Destiny
by pegasus5406
Summary: Jake and Bella? Paul and Bella? Watch as two lovers fight for their love. Watch as it grows into an everlasting love, that no one can ul/Bella
1. Chapter 1

DESTINY

CHAPTER ONE

FAR AND AWAY

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><p>"Order up Bella!" called the cook as I refreshed the coffee of one my favorite customers.<p>

"Thanks, Bella," he said, looking up at me and smiled sweetly. I smiled back at him, giving him a wink.

I replaced the coffee pot back into it cradle and picked up the orders I had waiting for me in the window at the same time, quickly taking them to the customers who were patiently waiting.

I was so glad to have patient customers, especially since this place was packed this early in the morning. I must have been doing something right, I thought, smiling to myself, since no one has taken my head off yet!

"Here you go Mac," I said sitting the plates down in front of him. Mac was a deputy with the sheriff's department here in Corvallis.

"Thanks, Bella."

"No problem." I replied.

The owner of this diner is great. Mandy, she and I hit it off right away. She hired me on the spot. She has an awesome personality that keeps us laughing with her constant sense of humor, mostly directed at our regular customers. They all love her. It was she that kept them coming back. She wasn't one of those bosses that sat on their butts ordering the help around, she would get out there working right alone side of you, as hard as you did if not harder.

When I first started working here it was part time, while I went to the University of Oregon. I worked evening and weekends while in school. The school had a program that after I graduated they would place me in my first job. I told them I would go anywhere, as long as it was in the United States.

I graduated weeks ago. I kept working here at the diner switching to full time until the university called with the information I needed to begin my career. I was surprised I hadn't heard anything from them. I thought teachers were in high demand? So, I'm still here at the diner slinging hash so to speak.

I walked back behind the counter to cash one of the customers out as John began to tease me again. "Hey Bella, when are you going to quit this dive and marry me?" he asked with a chuckle. I smiled at him kindly.

"Be careful what you wish for, John! I might just take you up on that offer one day!" I wagged a warning finger at him. His face lit up, and he let out a barking laugh. It made me feel good to see a smile on his face. He was an elderly man, and after his wife died of a heart attack two years ago, he'd started hanging out here at the diner. I'd caught him a number of times staring out into space, a lost look on his face. He still spoke of her often, and while I knew he loved her unconditionally, that didn't stop that wily old man from proposing at least twice a week!

When his stories about his late wife first began, everyone seemed sympathetic, but as time went on, they started to disappear. They would tire of hearing the same old story from him reminiscing over times long since past. But it didn't bother me. I saw how his mood would change after he would tell me those stories. He would be in a much lighter, caring and happy mood. He would start cutting up with me, like asking me to leave this place and marry him.

John was having one of thosedays today. I saw him staring out into space again. I walked up to him and patted his hand gently, and when he looked up at me, he didn't start with a story, but just went straight into a proposal of marriage. I just smiled at him, filling his coffee cup with decafe.

I heard the bell over the door ring, alerting me that someone else was coming into the diner. I looked up to see who entered. I gasped, at the sight of this man, but not because I recognized him, but because he brought back so many memories, that I would rather forget. The guy was very tall. He had short cropped black shiny hair. His muscles bulged through the tee-shirt he wore continuing down his arms. His bronze colored skin reminded me of a time not long ago of a man I missed more than I cared to admit. This guy was just as gorgeous.

The woman under his arm was a lot shorter than him obviously. Her hour glass figure left nothing to the imagination, for her clothes didn't hide anything at all.

I could tell he was a player by the way he looked at her, because his gaze was purely sexual. They sat in the back of the diner in the last booth, their hands roamed all over one another. I was hoping they were enjoying themselves, for they were surely putting on a show for my customers. As everyone watched, I thought about telling them to get a room. I also wondered how long it would take Mac to wonder over and tell them to tone it down a few notches.

"I wonder if they're going to order any food or eat each other," John said with a chuckle. I giggled in agreement. I picked up my ticket pad and pencil and made my way to their table carrying two glasses of water. I hated having to approach this couple and I was sure my customers felt ill at ease having to watch this open display of affection as well.

I stood at the booth as they continue to paw all over each other, not even acknowledging my presence. I rolled my eyes and I cleared my throat loudly before finally slamming the two plastic glasses of water down to get their attention. The woman looked over at me blushing, which surprised me. Given what she was wearing I didn't think anything could have embarrassed her. But the guy just continued paying special attention to the woman neck. Finally, tired of waiting for him to notice I was even there, I spoke.

"What can I get you?" I said, loud and clear. A few minutes passed before he answered.

"We'll call you when we're ready," he replied without looking at me. "Look, this is a diner, not a motel, so either order something or get the hell out!" I demanded. I was getting more agitated the longer I stood there.

The man finally raised his head and I swear I heard him growl.

"Look Bitch!" He snarled. But I didn't care. He had pissed me off to no end. I was ready to tell him off and if that didn't work I had Mac sitting across the room who I'm sure wouldn't mind arresting them both for being a public nuisance. But as soon as our eyes met, he froze. His face became softer and his mouth hung open. As he sat there staring at me, his eyes never left mine.

"Look, if you don't want anything to eat, I suggest you leave. If you want to give me any trouble, I'm sure Deputy MacDougal would love to escort you out," I told him sternly. Hoping he would chose the latter, Mac stood up, resting his hand on his firearm. I was so pissed. I never realized the man was sitting there staring at me.

What the hell is he looking at? I thought as his date elbowed him in the chest to get his attention.

"Huh?" he said, looking back at the blonde.

"What do you want to eat?" she asked getting irritated at the man.

"Oh…um, yeah… sorry…tell her what you want, baby," he said talking to the blonde.

After the blonde ordered bacon, scrambled eggs and coffee, the guy proceeded to order half the breakfast menu. As I walked away from them, I passed Mac and gave him a wink. He shook his head, smiled knowingly at me. He took his seat once again but kept an eye on the couple.

I walked behind the counter, shoving the ticket in the wheel and spinning it around for the cook, Arnold, to prepare. I picked up two cups and poured coffee into them taking them to the couple. The man smiled at me, thanking me politely. I shook my head, disgusted with the man earlier performance as I walked away, picking up the coffee pot to do a coffee refill around the diner.

I walked over to John to fill his cup. He smiled at me proudly. "You did good sweetie," he cooed. I patted his hand in thanks.  
>I looked over to where the couple was sitting. The man had moved to the other side of the booth. He was now facing the woman he was pawing earlier. She looked angry, as she sat there with her arms crossed over her chest. The man was now sitting watching my every move. I walked over to John who was watching the couple as well. He looked at me smiled.<p>

"I think he likes you, sweetheart," he said pleasingly nicely fondly with a chuckle.

"Puh-lease!" I replied, not quite believing what John had just said. "I wouldn't give that player the time of day," I told him, as he let out a howl of a laugh.

I looked over at the man who looked to be pouting. He looked as though his feelings had been hurt. I wondered what the woman had said to cause such a reaction from him, I felt kind of sorry for him in a way. The look on his face was heartbreaking. He didn't look like the type to take any crap from anyone, especially the woman that sat across from him.

"Order up, Bella," Arnold called. I walked over quickly, pulling the large order from the window before carrying it to the couples table. As I laid the food out before them, I looked into the man's eyes and smiled, thinking maybe it would help take away that hurt look on his face. He did look better with my little gesture, and he gave me a half smile in return.

"Can I get you anything else?" I offered, still looking at him.

"More coffee please," he asked nicely. I nodded and before I had a chance to head back to get the coffee pot to fill their coffee cups once again, I felt a warm hand grab my arm. I felt a charge of electricity run through me at his touch. I turned to see what the man wanted.

"I didn't catch your name," he replied.

"Bella, I told him, as I pointed to my name tag.

"No, your last name," he asked quizzically. I didn't know if I should tell him. Could I take the chance of someone from home finding me? I had never seen this guy before, but that didn't mean he didn't know people from home. I was done with school, yes. I was waiting to hear where they were going to place me, yes, but I still feared someone from home would find me. I looked at him, sighing. Oh, what the hell, I thought to myself. But before I could reply a voice came from the front of the diner.

"Swan!" Mac called as he stood in the doorway. "I rolled your car windows up; it's starting to rain," He informed me.

"Thanks, Mac," I yelled back. He waved his hand and left. Mac knew my dad Charlie. I kept in contact with Charlie through him when I didn't have time to call home.

When I turned back to the man, his eyes were closed. I heard him say my name, but it seemed he was speaking more to himself than to me.

"Bella Swan," he replied.

I looked at him with a furrowed brow. "Do I know you?" I asked nervously.

The woman grunted out. "I can't believe this, I'm out of here," she chided, as she got up storming out of the diner. I looked at the man. He didn't even acknowledge the fact that his date was leaving him in the middle of their meal.

"Are you going to let her leave just like that? You're not going after her?" I replied, silently cursing myself for butting in, knowing it wasn't any of my business, and left me wondering why I even cared.

He shook his head. "Yes, no and no. Yes, I'm letting her leave without me, no, I'm not going after here and No you don't know me, but my name is Paul… Paul Lahote," he greeted, Instead of returning the greeting, I rolled my eyes, before turned to walk away.

"Hey, Bella," John called, getting my attention as I filled the sugar and salt dispensers.

"Yeah, John, what is it? Do you need something?" I asked, as I walked back to him.

"I think you have an admirer," he whispered when I got closer. He cocked his head in the direction of the man who called himself Paul. He was still staring at me. I looked back at John.

"Please! John," I said, rolling my eyes. I picked up the coffee pot and walked over to where Paul sat. I proceeded to top off his cup, sit the pot on the table, tore off his ticket, and lay it on the table, all while his dark eyes continued to study me.

"Can I get you anything else?" I asked politely, hoping he would say 'No' and leave already.

"No, Bella, thank you though," he replied, with a smile reaching from ear to ear. I nodded, turned and walking back behind the counter to finish filling the condiments. I talked to John a little more, as I waited for Paul to leave. A few minutes later Paul got up walked to the cash register.

"Excuse me, John, let me cash him out," I replied.

"Sure Bella, he said. I walked to the cash register pushing a few buttons, took his money, gave him his change closed the drawer without looking at him once.

"Thank you for coming. Have a nice day. Please come again," I replied, as I do all customers as they leave the diner.

"Thank you, Bella, you have a nice day too," he said. I smiled at him before walking back over to finish filling the condiments and continue my talk with John. I looked up to see Paul stumble out the door. He was still staring at me with a silly grin on his face. I felt a little creeped out with how he kept watching me, but finally, he disappeared. I shook my head and looked back to John, who had doubled over with laughter over my situation.

I walked over to the table where Paul had sat for the past two hours and cleaned it off. When I went to pick up my tip, I stared down at it and then at the door, not believing he would leave me such a large tip. Most customers leave me two dollars at most, but Paul left me a twenty dollar bill. I tucked the money in my pocket, still feeling confused as I quickly completed my tasks.

After my shift I drove home to my tiny little apartment which was only two blocks from the diner. Yes, it was small, but I didn't need anything much larger. It was only a one bedroom. The living room, dining area and the kitchen all ran together, with a bath that sat between the bedroom and living area. I didn't cook much. I usually ate at the diner before I came home. Although, I loved to cook, I didn't have any reason too.

I grabbed a pair of sweat pants and a huge tee-shirt before jumping into the shower. Afterwards I slipped them on and got comfortable on the sofa. I checked my messages on the answering machine, not surprised when the mechanical voice explained that I had no new messages. Charlie and Renee usually called my cell, but I couldn't help but hope to hear about a new job from the university.

I picking up my copy of Pride and Prejudice and began to read.

I must have dozed off, because when I opened my eyes, the sun was coming up. I looked at the clock; it was 5 a.m. I sighed, and got up to make some coffee. As I waited for the coffee to brew, I stood staring off into space, thinking of home again. I missed Charlie. I had promised to come home for a visit, but I never did. I was always afraid Jake would find out I was home.

I didn't want to face him. I didn't want to hurt him any more than I already had. May be he had imprinted. But it had been four years, so maybe I was worrying unnecessarily. I'd kept to myself all this time, but that was out of choice. Oh sure, I've been on a few dates, but nothing serious. I wasn't ready for that type of commitment. I wanted to get my life in order, including a career, before I could even think about settling down with one man.

Despite my desperate rationalizations, I couldn't help but remember the last day I saw Jake.

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><p>Let me know what you think...huggs<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

DESTINY

CHAPTER TWO

Memories

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><p>I couldn't help but remember the last time I saw Jake.<p>

(Flashback)

_"Bella!" Jake __cried, __wrapping his arms around my waist __and__ looking into my eyes, smiling that beautiful bright smile I loved so much. He brought his hand up and softly brushed his knuckles across my cheek. He began to lower his head down __to kiss my lips, but I moved my head to the side._

_"Jake please… don't," I whispered, shaking my head. He stared out __over me into the yard, sighing._

_"__You're__ still in love with him, aren't you?" he asked._

_"No, Jake, I'm not. That's over, I could never be with him again," I told him._

_"Then why? I love you Bella! I'm in love with you, honey," he __cried__. _

_I shook my head despondently. "Jake, please! You know why," I replied. I didn't want to hurt his feelings._

_"Bella, I know I mean more to you than __a__ friend. I can feel it! __Y__ou're just not trying," he said._

_"I do love you Jake, but… not romantically. You're my best friend. I don't want to ruin that. I don't feel that way towards you," I told him. _

_"But you haven't even tried! Can't you try? For me?" he begged. _

_I looked at him with forbearance. How c__ould__ I say no to that beautiful face? __While it's true that I did find J__ake attractive, I loved him as a brother, not as a boyfriend or lover. "If I try and it doesn't work out, will you leave it alone?" I asked. _

_Jake smiled from ear to ear. "Yes… I promise," he said excited that I was willing to try. I knew he thought he could make me love him and I hoped he could for his sake. He had done so much for me__. I prayed that I was mistaken._

_We spent every day together__, going to the movies and restaurants. We often kissed and cuddled. I could see how happy Jake was, but my feelings didn't change. It__ felt weird kissing Jake, but it seemed he was enjoying himself._

_The last day I was with him, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me down into his lap. He looked into my eyes. "I love you, Bells, so much," he said, crushing his lips to mine. I put everything I had into that kiss. When his tongue softly stroked my bottom lip, I gave him permission to enter, our tongues dancing together. He moaned with pleasure. I could feel his arousal against my thigh, as he cradled me closer. Our kiss became fiery as our mouths moved together. His hand ran up and down my leg before it raising it higher, under my shirt until he grazed the tips of his finger against my breast. I couldn't help but jump, feeling both startled and uncomfortable __"Jake, stop! Please," I pleaded. _

_He moved his hand, kissing my cheek, kissing down my neck __and then back up__to my earlobe. "I'm sorry baby, I got carried away. You do that to me. It's hard keeping my hands off of you," he whispered. _

_It was then that I knew I was causing him more pain than happiness. How could I be with him when it was all a lie?__ It was one sided. I knew Jake loved me. I loved him too, but not the same way. I had to stop this. I pulled away from him. He watched with a furrowed brow._

_"Jake, I can't do this anymore," I told him __gently__._

_"Do what, honey?" he asked. __He looked genuinely confused, which only made me feel guiltier for allowing this charade to continue._

_"Jake, you asked me to try and for the last two weeks that's all I've done. We've kissed a hundred times. I've put all of me into to it, but…" I shook my head, not wanting to continue. He knew what I was talking about. I didn't want to hurt him, but I just couldn't live a lie any longer._

_"I know you love me Bella, I felt it… in our kisses or when I held you! Baby, please don't do this," he pleaded._

_"I know you love __me, Jacob, but I don't feel the same way you do. If I continue with this…" I paused, trying to choose my words carefully. The last thing I wanted was to make him feel worse for being insensitive or callous. "It's a lie, Jake. I don't want to lose you as a friend, but you can't make me fall in love with you," I pleaded with him, hoping that he would understand._

_He looked at me as tears fell down his cheeks. He wiped his tears away and his whole demeanor changed. Instead of showing his hurtful state, it changed to agitation. He began to pace in front of me. He began to shake uncontrollably._

_"Jake, calm down, honey," I implored him__. He looked livid now, and I was starting to feel nervous._

_"Calm down! You're telling me you don't love me after all this time and you're asking me to calm down!" He huffed angrily. This was exactly what __I had been__ afraid of. He wouldn't understand __why__ our relationship didn't work out. He was losing it because I couldn't love him the way he need__ed __me to._

_"Fine! If that's how you want it, FINE!" He screamed. __His hands were clenched into tight fists, and his face was mottled with rage._

_"Jake, please!" I begged. "I tried, you know I did! I tried, __but__ I just-"_

_He cut me off__, raising one palm to stop me from speaking. "I wouldn't__ finish that sentence, Bella, if you know what's good for you," he spat through his bared teeth. _

_I looked at __him through the tears that pooled in my eyes. He scratched the back of his head clearly agitated before fisting two hands full of his hair. "NO! NO!" He yelled. He quickly crossed the space between us, putting his face not two inches from mine. "If you can't love me the way I love you… then fine, but I can't be your friend anymore," he snarled._

_"Jake," I __cried__ as the tears began to flow._

_"No, Bella, I'm done! I'm so done! Go! I don't want to see you any more… Ever!" He screamed. __His words were cruel, and I felt my heart break as he shoved open the door and ran off. _

_I stood there __and sobbed__, as Jake walked out of my life. _

_"I'm sorry, Jake," I whispered. I didn't know if he could hear me or if he even cared. __I had lost him forever._

_(End Flashback)_

I shook my head to force the painful memories away, and looked to see the coffee was done. I poured a cup and sat down to drink it, recalling what had happened after Jake had left me there standing in his front yard.

I had gone home to tell Charlie that I was leaving. I told him I would tell him where I ended up, but only if he promised not to tell anyone else. Charlie didn't like it. He huffed for awhile, refusing to let me go. Hoping to appease him, I said I was going to college. He seemed pleased with my plan so he agreed not to tell a soul where I would be. I packed my bags to leave the next morning, and never looked back.

After I drank my coffee, I dressed. I put my hair up in a pony tail, grabbed my cell phone, keys and bag before walking the two blocks to the work. I was practically on autopilot as I opened the door, turned off the alarm, and got right into setting up for the morning breakfast rush.

After thinking about Jake and all that had gone down between us, I felt rather depressed. I haven't thought about all this for the last two years… why now? Why is all this coming back to me now? I wondered. I hoped that maybe it was because I graduated and felt a little nostalgic. Maybe I needed to go home for a visit, like I promised Charlie I would do. Maybe it was just time. But whatever it was, it was bringing me down. I was also still curious if Jake had imprinted yet. If he had, it would make it so much easier. He would been able to move on and forgotten all about us romantically. Maybe we could finally mend our broken friendship.

But what if he hadn't? Would he still hate me for not loving him the way he had wanted?

God, I've got to stop thinking about this! I shook my head and went about my morning ritual. Arnold was already in the kitchen doing his prep work.

"Good morning Bella," he said groggily.

"Good morning Arnold. Late night?" I asked with a giggle. He nodded, rolling his eyes as a response.

The bell rang over the door. I looked up to greet our first customer of the day, and of course, it was John.

"Good morning, John, how are you this morning?" I asked politely.

"Oh…I'm okay, I guess; same ole', same ole'. Just be glad you're not as old as I am, Bella," he said wearily.

I poured him a cup of coffee and sat it down in front of him. "Are you sure you're okay, honey?" I asked, feeling a little concerned.

"I'm fine, sweetheart. Don't worry that pretty little head of yours over me! Nothing that a good dose Geritol won't cure," he replied with a chuckle.

I gave him a relieved smile, glad that he was alright. "Do you want the usual this morning, or do you want something different?" I asked.

He looked toward the kitchen as he thought. "Ummm… I think I'll take the usual," he said finally, picking up his coffee and sipping it slowly. "You know, my wife used to make me waffles. She used to take blueberries and make little smiley faces on them for me," he murmured, obviously reminiscing.

I gave him another smile. "That's so sweet," I told him, as I watched his sad face. It occurred to me that I might have just the thing to cheer him up. Heading to the back, I quickly found some blueberries. After washing them, I grabbed the fresh waffle from Arnold and quickly arranged the sweet fruit on the plate.

When I sat it down in front of John, a look of amazement crossed his face and his eyes filled with tears. "Is this okay John?" I asked, concerned I had done something wrong.

He shook his head, staring incredulously down at his waffles and then back at me. "Bella, any man that gets you will be the luckiest man in the world. I swear if I was thirty years younger, I'd vie for your hand myself," he told me, his expression entirely serious and sincere.

"Awww… John… that is so sweet… If you were thirty years younger, I think just maybe I would chose you," I told him, earning me a soft chuckle from my favorite customer.

The diner started filling up fast. Soon, I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off, but I loved it like this. The busier I was the better, because when it was like this, I never had to think about my future or who I missed back home.

As I worked diligently, through the morning, making sure everyone was happily waited on, the crowd started to dwindle down. I was cashing one of my customers out, when I noticed Paul standing outside the diner peering in. He looked nervous or trying to decide whether to come in or not, I couldn't tell which for sure. He would walk back to his truck and stand there holding on to his trucks handle like he was getting ready to leave and just when I thought he was going to, he turned and walked towards the diner once again and stand there staring in the window. I thought this was a strange thing to do. But remembering the way he acted yesterday, it didn't surprise me one bit. I shrugged my shoulders and went back to work, leaving him, to his own decisions.

I continued to go about my work until I heard the bell ring over the door. I looked up to see Paul standing in the entryway, looking around for a seat. I shook my head in disbelief, mostly of the fact that he finally decided to come in. I waved at him to get his attention, and pointed to the chair at the counter next to John. He smiled at me, nodded as he proceeded to walk across the diner to take a seat at the counter.

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><p>Let me know what you think...thanks huggs<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

DESTINY

A/N: Special thanks to goldengirl2707 for beta-ing this story, you rock girlfriend.

Also I own nothing belonging to Twilight, That honor belongs to the one and only Stephanie Meyers.

CHAPTER THREE

FIGHTING WITH MY WOLF

PAUL'S P.O.V.

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><p>I stood outside the diner, staring through the window. I can't believe I imprinted on fucking Bella Swan! I shook my head, as if I could shake her out of it. I walked over to my truck. I got in and let out a long heavy sigh. I placed my hands on the wheel, closed my eyes tight and laid my head on the back of my hands, fighting to control myself. How do I stop the pure unadulterated fear that flowed through me? Normally, I wouldn't admit that anyone, but right now I didn't give a damn, because not only was I afraid, but I was also mad as hell.<p>

I have lived all this time without a soul mate or even a steady girlfriend, so why now? Even if my ancestors decided it was time for me to imprint, why did it have to be her?

For the past four years, I've had to hear the ranting in Jacob Black's head about this woman. The woman who ran out on him. Who couldn't give him what he desired. Fuck! He's the one who pushed her away. If it's anyone's fault, it's his, and all his whining and moping around was driving us all insane. I do have to admit though, the past year he's been a little quiet on the subject of Bella. What's going to happen when I bring her back as my imprint? Fuck! He's going to have a coronary! And to top it off, he's my fucking Alpha! Man, is my life gonna suck donkey dicks, I thought, shaking my head with a sigh.

Damn Sam Uley… If he hadn't sent me here to work on those damn cottages in this god forsaken place I would have never found Bella Swan, much less imprinted on her…Shit! Fuck!

I tried to get him to send someone else, but noooo! It _had_ to be me. I'm the only one he trusted with this job, or so he said. He probably just wanted to get rid of me so the guys didn't have to put up with my shit. I hear what's going on in their heads.

I'm not stupid, but it sure is fun to pick on the guys. I love the faces they make when I call them out on their stupid shit.

So here I am, in this shit hole of a town alone. Only I could find the one person I never wanted to meet.

What the hell is she doing here anyway? Shouldn't she be with the leech? Isn't that what I saw in Jake's head? That she had cut out to look for that bloodsucker? Fu…ck!

Damn it Jake… She's supposed to be the love of your life… What the fuck? I had to fucking imprint on her… Hell, could this get any worse? I groaned, squeezing my eyes closed tighter, before opening them and shaking my head. I start my truck, driving myself out to the cottages for work.

I'll just work on the damn cottages, get them done and then get the hell out of here. She'll never know where I'm from. We can forget the whole damn thing. Yeah…that's it…that's what I'll do, I thought to myself.

I tried to keep Bella off my mind by trying to focus on work instead, but it just wasn't working. The harder I tried to forget Bella, the worse it got. Taking what felt like my 100th break of the day, I stepped away from the window I had been structuring, and ran my fingers through my hair, standing back looking at the cottage I was working on. I had worked all day trying not to think of her but found myself doing nothing else.

By the end of the day, I was exhausted mentally and physically. All I wanted to do was grab a bite to eat and throw myself into bed.

There wasn't much in this town. I wasn't taking the chance of going back to the diner and running into Bella Swan again. So I stopped at the grocery store to grab some lunchmeat and bread to make myself a few sandwiches. I also picked up a bag of chips and a gallon of milk. Once I returned to the motel I had rented just outside of town, I got my grub on before settling in for a good night sleep, after a long hot shower. I crawled into the bed only to lay staring at the ceiling. My every thought was of Bella. When I closed my eyes, I could see her. I rubbed my faces, frustrated and still trying to relax. I tried clearing my mind of everything, but she kept creeping into my thoughts. Exasperated, I whined.

What was I doing? Paul Lahote does not whine.

I didn't know what time it was before I finally drifted off to sleep. I know it was the wee hours of the morning. I awoke to the alarm clock going off in my ear. With an exhausted groan, I reach for the clock and almost picked it up to throw across the room, but then she crept back into my mind… Oh hell! Shoot me now; just get it over with, I thought to myself. Not that it would kill me… stupid wolf. Fucking leech lover! I groaned as a pain ran through my chest. "What? I can't even think bad things about her? Fu…ck!"

I crawled out of the bed and made my way to the shower. I stood in the stall, letting the hot water run over my tired weakened body. It felt amazing but it didn't stop the thought of Bella from creeping back into my weary mind.

I remembered staring at her at the diner.

I thought about looking into those soft chocolate brown eyes. And those beautiful pouting lips that smiled at me. Her adorable heart shaped face. Those round pert breasts that could make me hard just thinking about them.

My heart melted in satisfaction as I realized that I had just ejaculated to the thought of Bella Swan without even realizing I'd done it. I looked down to see the white sticky substance that covered my hand, as I held onto my length… Oh, this is too much, I thought to myself. My heart was beating fast. My breath was short and rapid. My knees were weak, and I collapsed to the shower floor from the pure pleasure I felt. All this from just thinking of the woman…God, what will happen when I am truly with her? But the thought still brought a smile to my face.

I had been with countless women but none of them had made me feel the way Bella does. Yes, I had even wacked-off thinking of beautiful women, but even that had never made me feel the way I felt at this moment.

I got out of the shower after cleaning myself up. I brushed my teeth and combed my hair. As I got ready, I caught myself whistling a tune. I glanced at the mirror to see a man standing there with a stupid grin… If I didn't know any better, I would swear it was me, but Paul Lahote doesn't smile like that or whistle, at least not over some stupid chick. Once again, I felt the pain graze over my chest. Fuck! I sputtered.

I shook my head. I wasn't about to let this defeat me… It had been what? 24 hours since I had met Bella Swan? I sighed. Even her name was wearing me down. It was like a mantra, repeating itself in my head, or was it my wolf? Damn wolf! _Mine_, he snarled.

"No! She's a leech lover!" That pain shot through my chest again, but this time it brought me to my knees. "She's Jake's!" I whimpered, as a tear slid down my cheek. "Paul Lahote does not cry," I whispered fiercely, my words interrupted with a hiccup.

The wolf was winning. I had fought with my wolf for the last twenty four hours. He wanted Bella and I was losing this battle through sheer exhaustion. "How do you know she'll even accept the imprint?" I asked my wolf. There was complete silence in my head. I could tell he was trying to figure it out. If she didn't accept the imprint, could we handle the degradation of it all? Could my wolf? _She'll accept it,_ I felt him growl. _She's good with weird._ I sighed.

So was I giving in? I didn't know for sure. I knew my wolf wanted her. Alright; we'll try, but how will we tell her? There was another question. She was here for a reason. It was obvious that she didn't want to be found, most likely by Jake. I had seen in Jacobs head at times, especially before he became Alpha, that he wanted more from Bella and she wasn't able to give it to him. The rage that he felt once he realized that everything he'd tried hadn't changed her mind was almost overwhelming. It was unbelievable. You would think he had imprinted on her or something, the way he had carried on. Well, we know that obviously wasn't the case now. I imprinted on the leech lover, I thought, trying to ignore the pain in my chest…FUCK!

Jake had gone through a lot for her. Even brought, her back to life after that bloodsucker left her. She walked around like a zombie for months after that and Jake had been there for her.

Jake had changed after she left… I hated to admit it, but I kind of liked him more after the transformation. He could be evil, when he wanted to be… I laughed, thinking of some of the things he did during those times. He became real creative when killing some of those leeches. I knew he only did it because he was furious with Bella and her love for the Cullen's. After he became Alpha, though, he was able to keep his mind hidden from us. He kept his thoughts secret. That alone had made me afraid to confront Jake about me imprinting on Bella. Hard telling what he will do when he hears the news.

"You do realize that Jake is Alpha and if he still believes Bella is still his, he will kill us?" I informed my wolf.

_She's our imprint… The council won't let him_, he replied. _We have to make sure we talk to Sam first, before Jake finds __out. He'll help us._ My wolf made a valid point, but I was the one who would have to stand up in front of Bella and explain who and what we were. I wasn't sure if Jake had even told her about our secret.

"What will she do when she finds out where we're from? Will she run? If she does, what do we do then?" I asked him.

_We'll have to make sure she doesn't is all_, he replied. I snorted. That was easy for him to say.

"Well, let's go have breakfast. Maybe I can get her to talk to us after her shift is over," I said to him, as I picked up my keys and shoving my wallet into my back pocket. I checked the mirror one last time, looking at myself to make sure I looked alright. But then I shrugged; black jeans and wife-beater were my standard uniform. I hadn't even brought other clothes. I slipped on my boots, leaving the shoestrings to dangle over the top of my boots before I made my way to my truck.

I got to the diner and sat in my truck for a few minutes, trying to come up with something to say to make conversation with Bella. The truth was I was scared out of my mind.

I felt sorry for Bella; she was the only one I seen in there. How did she handle the entire restaurant herself? I wondered. After sitting there for what seemed like an hour, I finally had the balls to get out and approach the diner. I stood at the window staring in, watching Bella run around the diner with ease. I sighed, turned and walked back to my truck. I did this a few times, trying to work up enough courage to go inside.

When I felt the small hairs on the back of my neck prickle, I looked up to see Bella staring at me. "Shit, now I have to go in," I chastised myself as Bella went back to work. With a soft groan, I finally opened the door and walked in. The bell over my head rang, causing every set of eyes in the room to turn in my direction. Unsure what to do next, they watched while I stood there like an idiot. Bella smiled, pointing to the counter next to the old man that I recognized from the day before. I nodded, making my way to where she pointed. I sat down on the stool and looked at the old man.

"How ya doing?" I asked as I took my seat.

"I'm fine, young man. How are you this fine morning?" he asked pleasantly.

"I'm good, thanks," I replied, picking up a menu. I mostly hid behind it, looking at my options.

"Coffee?" I heard the sweet voice of my angel ask. I looked over the menu at the most beautiful smile that ever graced a face.

"Please," I replied. She turned my cup over and pouring coffee into it before walked away. I watched as she delivered someone's breakfast. I looked around the diner, watching as Bella moved around the place like a well oiled machine, but couldn't help wonder why she was working alone with all these customers. Shouldn't she have some help?

"How does she do this all by herself?" I asked, not realizing I had said it out loud

.

"She's good as what she does. Besides, I wouldn't want to be the one to complain," the old man said with a chuckle. I looked at him and smiled, nodding in understanding. The thought of Bella taking their heads off if they even tried to complain threw me. I didn't think she was like that. From what I had learned from Jake's mind, she was a timid, shy girl, letting bygones be bygones.

"My name is John," he said as he held out his hand to shake mine. I reached over to clasp his hand in greeting.

"I'm Paul," I replied, giving his hand a healthy shake.

"You're not from around here, are you? I mean, I would have seen you before now," he asked.

"Ummm…No. I'm not from around here. I'm here doing some work on the cottages down by the lake," I replied.

"Contractor, huh? It's about time Tom did something about those old beat up houses down there," he said.

"Yeah. They need a lot of attention," I answered in agreement.

"What can I get you?" The delightful voice of Bella asked as she stood in front of me.

"Umm…how about some ham and eggs over easy and order of sausage gravy and biscuits, a stack of flap jacks, and the largest orange juice you've got," I ordered.

She nodded as she wrote on her little notepad. "It will be right out," she said with that same adorable smile.

"Thank you, Bella," I told her with a huge grin.

"You're welcome, Paul," she replied. She remembered my name! That made me feel like dancing around the room with joy.

Bella went back to her work. I watch as she floated around the room. She looked so beautiful with her hair pulled up into a pony tail. She had the slightest tint of pink on her cheek. I didn't know if it was a blush or from the heat of running around the diner, but if I had to guess it would probably be the latter. She would stop every now and again to speak to the old man sitting next to me. He would joke around with her and she would always have a comeback for him. I wondered if she was related to him in some way, when I saw him grab my Bella's hand and ask her to leave this place and marry him. I nearly choked on my coffee. I was even more confused when she shot back, Be careful what you wish for John, for I just might take you up on that one of these days." She replied with a chuckle.

I looked over at the old man as he laughed. I was hoping they were just joking about getting married. She wouldn't marry an old guy like that, would she? I stifled the growl that was building in my chest. The old man looked over at me with a smile that slowly turned into a confused frown. I lowered my head, trying to hide the anger that must have shown on my face. This was all new to me. I have never been in love before. I didn't know how to hide my feelings, especially with someone who was flirting with my girl.

Did I just say _my_ girl? That I was in love? This is all so confusing to me. I wondered how I must have looked to the old man. Angry? Confused? Or, was it more of an, 'I don't know what the hell I'm doing here' look? Probably the last one. I'd always been the 'love'em and leave'em' type of guy.

I sighed, shrugging my shoulders. Do I love Bella? I sat and pondered over the situation. I knew my wolf did. He had made that perfectly clear, having hammered it in my head for the past 24 hours. I can still hear him growling.

_Mine._

My wolf and I are the same. Two entities sharing the same space. We were perfectly aware of one another. Could I love Bella? Or I guess a better question would be could I love anyone? I sat thinking about it for a few minutes as I watched my beautiful angel flutter around the diner in all her glory.

Oh my god…yes…yes, I do love Bella. I love her as much as my wolf does. How will I handle this? I have to get her alone. I need to talk to her. I need to let her know how I feel without scaring her off. Can I do this? I knew I had too if I wanted Bella in my life. I would have to find a way.

"Are you alright, son?" I heard someone ask. I turned to look at John.

"Sure, sure…I'm fine. Why?" I asked, but couldn't help ask a question of my own.

"Well, you look kind of flushed. You sure you're alright?" he questioned again. He looked a little worried.

"Yeah…I'm good," I replied, as I picked up my coffee and sipped it.

"Where you from son?" he continued. I didn't want to tell him where I was from, in case Bella overhears.

He continued to stare, waiting for an answer. I knew I had to tell him something. "Umm… Washington," I mumbled, staring into my coffee cup, hoping he'd leave me alone.

He smiled knowingly. "What part? You know our Bella here is from Washington. Maybe you're neighbors and don't know it!" he exclaimed. As I hear, Bella approach.

Bella walked in our direction holding my plate. Setting it down, she looked between the two of us. "I don't know what yet?" she asked. I lowered my head and picked up my ham, tearing a piece off to stick in my mouth, trying to ignore what John was telling her about where I was from.

"Oh, I was just telling our friend here that you were from Washington," he explained.

"John, please don't tell people where I'm from," she pleaded. I looked up at her, surprised. She didn't want anyone to know where she was from. Was she hiding from Jake?

I had often wondered what happened between her and Jake to make her run away and cause Jake's personality to change so much He was almost a male version of Leah. I picked up a few things out of Jake's head. I had just assumed she didn't want to be with him. I knew he pushed her away after she told him she didn't love him, but had there been more to it than that?

"No, honey, it's okay. He's from Washington as well," he said, and my heart dropped in fear.

She turned those brown eyes in my direction, and I realized that she was staring at me, but not just _at_ me. She looked _through_ me. It sent a shiver running through my body as she tossed fiery daggers at me with her eyes. I picked up my juice and took a sip, trying to ignore her, as if I didn't have a clue, but my insides were melting away bit by bit.

"Where at in Washington?" she asked. I just stared at her without answering. Her expression turned from suspicious to frightened quickly. She became pale, and her breathing became erratic. I knew I had to say something. I was losing her and I was losing her rapidly.

"Bella, I didn't come looking for you, I swear. No one knows you're here. No one needs to know, as far as I'm concerned," I replied in a comforting voice, as she closed her eyes and she began to back away.

"Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh. My. God." she began to mumble and shake her head, repeating the same phrase over and over.

"Bella, please, listen to me honey. Talk to me. Let me explain it all to you after your shift. I promise, I won't tell anyone you're here. Just please, talk to me. I need to explain some things to you," I begged, desperate for a chance to explain myself.

She stopped her pacing and froze. "Why are you here?" she asked nervously.

"I'm here doing a job. I'm restoring some cottages down by the lake," I answered.

"That's true, Bella, that's what he, told me earlier," John interjected. Under normal circumstances, I would have been pissed at him for interrupting, but since it seemed like she was listening, I was grateful for the help.

She looked over at him, then back to me. "Who sent you?" She fired another question at me, still anxious.

"Sam. He owns a construction company. He only sent me here to do the work and then I am to return as soon as the work is done," I replied.

"Oh God… You are from the LaPush!" she moaned, hanging her head and backed away from me until she leaned against the wall for support.

"Bella… I promise you I didn't know you were here. It surprised me when I first realized who you were. You must believe that I haven't told a soul you're here and I won't if you don't want me to, but please… _please_, give me an hour of your time when your shift ends. There are a few things that need to be said. I _have_ to talk to you; it's very important," I pleaded.

She stood there staring at me for God only knows how long. John flipped his head back and forth waiting for one of us to talk. If I hadn't been so focused on Bella, I might have been irritated that he was being so fucking nosy. Finally, she sighed.

"Has he imprinted?" She knows about imprinting! If she knows about that, then she must know everything. Good ole' Jake; he never was one to keep his big mouth shut. Boy, am I glad he didn't this time! God, I wish I could tell her yes. I couldn't lie to her. With the imprint it was impossible to lie to her. It made us tell the total truth no matter what.

"What's imprinting?" John asked. I looked over at him before turning back to Bella. I couldn't believe she said that in front of him. Hadn't Jake explained that it was supposed to be a secret?

"It's just a slang word. Our people use to describe when they've found the love of their lives," I explained not giving away much, but it wasn't a lie either.

"Oh… I see," he said, bringing my attention back at Bella.

"Can we talk about this later?" I pleaded, hoping she would let me explain everything later.

She lowered her head staring down at her feet for a few seconds. "Do you like lasagna?" she asked, as she brought her gaze up to meet mine.

Was she kidding? I'm a wolf; I love any kind of food. I gave her a hesitant smile and nodded.

"Yes…I love lasagna," I said softly.

She picked up her ticket book, scribbled something down, tearing the sheet off and handed it to me. "Be at that address at 6 p.m. It's only like two blocks down the street," she explained.

Anxious to speak with her, I finished what little remained of my meal within seconds. As I drank the rest of my juice, John turned in my direction, a thoughtful look on his face. "I'll tell you right now, young man, that woman right there" he said, pointing at Bella. "Is a special lady. If you harm her in any way, and I mean in_ any_ way… you _will_ answer to me. You got that, boy?"

I raised my eyebrows at him, thinking he was a spunky old fart, but I couldn't judge him, considering he was only looking out for Bella. I was almost glad that she had someone like him here to look after her.

"I got it, John… I would never hurt Bella. It would be impossible," I replied. He studied me for a few seconds and then finally nodded. I guess I had earned his approval.

I finally looked down at the paper Bella had given me. She had her name, address and cell phone number. I smiled, laid a tip on the counter and then got up. I patted John on the back and walked to the cash register to pay my check.

"Thanks, Bella…6 o'clock…I'll be there," I said softly as she handed me my change. Relief flooded me as she gave me a hesitant smile. I couldn't help but smile back before walking out the door. I could only hope that my work would go quickly today; I couldn't _wait_ for 6:00 to roll around.

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><p>Let me know what you think...please...thanks huggs<p> 


	4. Chapter 4

Destiny

A/N: I own nothing Twilight, that honor belongs to none other than Stephanie Meyers

Special thanks to goldengirl2707 for her amazing job of beta-ing and helping me reword some of the paragraphs…you rock hon…huggs

Chapter 4

Sweating Bullets

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><p>As I left the diner and walked to my truck, my wolf was doing the happy dance in my head.<p>

"Don't get to happy; she might have agreed to talk to us, but that doesn't mean she'll accept the imprint," I snapped at him. He got quiet as I smirked. It wasn't often I won an argument with my wolf.

_She'll accept the imprint_, he grumbled.

I rolled my eyes as I turned the key in the ignition and started driving out to the cottages yet again. I was about done with the work there. I knew I would have to go home soon. Sam had already started calling me, telling me to hurry my ass up. He wanted me to get back to the reservation. I wondered how he was going to take that I had imprinted.

Sam may be my best friend and Beta of the Pack, but he's going to shit his pants when he finds out its Isabella Swan that I imprinted on. I also knew that I would get a lot of flak from the guys, since I was known on the reservation as sort of a player. I mean, the ones who had already imprinted will automatically know I won't be able to be with another woman, but the others wouldn't get it at all.

I didn't want to tell them yet. I want to talk to Bella first, before I break the news to anyone else. If I even decided to tell anyone at all, I definitely didn't want to do it over the phone. But if I just showed up with Bella after all this time, everyone will freak the fuck out.

Maybe we can arrive in the middle of the night. I thought about how long it would take us to drive to La Push and what time we would have to leave here in order to make that possible. I can sneak Bella in my house, call Sam to come over, and break the news to him before anyone else finds out that she's there. I just hoped like hell that Sam can come up with a reasonable plan that can help Bella and I break the news to Jake. I cringed at the thought.

A lot of things were running through my mind throughout the day. The most important thing was telling Bella and how she was going to take it. Given her comments this morning, it was apparent that she knew about our legends. She had to know a lot if she knew about imprinting, but would our imprint be enough to convince her to come back with me to La Push? Did she understand what happened to a wolf if their imprint denied them?

I considered every possible relevant detail Bella needed to know about this. I mulled it over a lot of different ways and nothing sounded plausible in my mind. I sighed. I feared telling Bella about the imprint. If I told her in the wrong way, it could scare her away again and then where would I be? In the end, I decided to just come out and be honest with her. If she knew about us, then she surely would understand what it meant to be imprinted. At least I hoped she would.

The day went on slowly. I was almost finished with the last cottage. I knew that I would be leaving in a few days. I wondered if, Bella could be ready by then. Would I be pushing her too fast? Even if Bella did accept the imprint, would she be willing to leave that soon? I knew Sam wouldn't wait much longer on me before he sent more recruits down to help to get the job done. Time was money. Sam would be pissed if he thought I was wasting time and losing money on this job.

Hell, that's the reason he sent me to start with. He knew I would hurry to get the job done and it would be done well. As if he could sense my thoughts, my phone rang,

"Hey Sam."

"Hey Paul, are you about done with that job yet, man?" he asked. I could hear the irritation in his voice.

"Sam, you sent me down here to do a good job and that's what I'm doing. I'm going as fast as I can," I replied.

"Look Paul, this was a simple job of fixing up a few cottages and getting home in a few days. I wanted it done, and done fast. It's already been two weeks, and if you're not done in a few more days, it going to start cutting into my profits. Hell, if I knew it was going to take you this long, I would have sent someone with you. Now leave the whores alone, get busy and get your ass home!" he yelled.

"Hey! Fuck you, Sam! I'm working as fast as I can and there aren't any whores, thank you very much. I'm working my ass off from dawn to dusk, I'll have you know. I will be done by the weekend. If you don't like the way I'm doing things, then bring your ass down here and do it your fucking self. I don't need this shit Sam. So get the fuck off my ass!" I snapped. I was done being polite about this. How dare he accuse me of being lazy!

There was silence for a few minutes. I could hear Sam breathing on the other end. I knew he was composing himself to continue our conversation. I could give a fuck how pissed he was; I meant every word I said.

"Okay, Paul. Are you sure you'll be done by the weekend?" he asked, his voice finally calm.

"I said it would, didn't I!" I snarled. He might have been able to compose himself, but that didn't mean that I had.

"Alright, I'll see you this weekend. Be careful on the ride home," he said, and then promptly hung up on me.

I stared incredulously at the screen before shoving it in my pocket. "Fucking asshole," I exclaimed, as I turned and started working again.

~Bella's P.O.V.~

When I found out that Paul was from La Push, the first thing that crossed my mind was Jake had sent him to find me. It also made me wonder who told him where I was. I hoped that it wasn't Charlie. I knew that Dad and Billy had always wanted to see Jake and me together. They both knew we tried and that it didn't work out.

Surely they wouldn't force the issue knowing how things ended? Even if Jake was sorry for the way he treated me, they had to know that Jake and I could never be more than best friends. I wasn't even sure if we _could_ be friends again after the way he treated me. I sighed, remembering what happened that day.

I didn't want to hurt Jake; that was the last thing I ever wanted to do to him. I wondered if dad told Billy where I was and Billy had let it slip at some point. I hoped that wasn't true. Maybe they figured since I had graduated that maybe I had changed my mind about Jake. Paul had sworn no one knew I was here, and that he had stumbled on me by mistake. I guess that was possible.

I did remember Jake mentioning that Sam ran a construction business. How weird that there was a job where I lived. I was still a little leery that Paul just happened to be here, but I would give him the benefit of the doubt. He said he needed to speak to me alone, and that in itself scare's the living hell out of me. What could be so important? I had never even met Paul before yesterday. What would he have to talk to me about?

I couldn't help but wonder what he wanted to speak to me about. Maybe Jake was hurt or had left the reservation. If it had to do with Billy, then I was sure Dad would have told me. If it was pack related, I understood he couldn't talk openly here in the diner, but what did pack business have to do with me? I knew that Sam had been Alpha when I left. It could be anything!

Sure, I could tell him to go to hell. I hoped that I would be leaving in a few days, as soon as I heard from the university. I would be placed in a job somewhere in the United States. By the time Paul got back home to the reservation, I would be long gone, but I was still worried about what he had to tell me.

I still don't quite know what I was thinking when I reached into my pocket and pulled out my pad and pencil to scratch down my address and phone number. Now, I tried to rationalize that I hadn't cooked in a while, and wanted a chance to prepare a meal for someone. I had handed Paul the torn page from my pad and asked him if he liked lasagna, which was a stupid question. He was a wolf; of course he liked lasagna. It was food, wasn't it? But I was trying to being courteous.

The smile that had come across his face was priceless. I knew he was happy that I said I would meet with him. I wondered how someone like Paul changed in just one day. Yesterday, I was ready to have Mac kick him out of the diner without a second thought, but when I looked into those beautiful brown orbs, I found myself drawn to him. All the pack was sort of beautiful, and was very nice to look at, but those muscles bulging out of his chest and arms made my heart skip a beat.

I could see myself becoming lost in Paul if I wasn't careful, and that was the last thing I wanted. But how could all that have changed in just over twenty four hours? I thought back to the pack and their legends. I knew there was something there in the back of my mind that I just couldn't remember. I tried recalling what all the things that Jake had explained to me. Jake had explained some of the inner workings of the pack, but there was something else I just couldn't put my finger on. I knew it would come to me at some point, so I went on with my work for the day, with that thought on the edge of my mind.

As my day began to wind down, when I was refilling the condiments and talking to John, is when it hit me. I dropped the scoop to the sugar and I know I turned completely white. John reached over and took my hand.

"Bella…are you okay, honey?" he asked. When I looked at him, I could see the fear in his eyes and he was really worried about me.

"Imprinting," was all I could say.

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Excuse me?" he replied. "Like what you were talking about with that young man earlier, about finding the love of your life?" I realized I had said it before, and now I was saying it again. No one was supposed to know about those types of things, and here I was speaking of it openly once again. I tried to compose myself so John didn't think I was totally insane. I smiled and let out a little giggle.

"Yeah, I just thought of something Paul had said earlier; an old friend of ours just found his true love. That's probably what Paul wants to talk to me about. This friend and I used to be together, but it's long since over now. He probably just wants to let me down easy. I guess he thinks I still feel something for that guy," I told him, trying to look calm and keep my cool. The last thing I needed for was John to get suspicious and ask more questions.

John looked at me for a second and smiled. "Well I hope that's all it is. Are you sure you'll be okay with this other guy being with someone else?" he asked.

"I'm very sure. Our break up was very heartbreaking, but I'm over it now. I was worried that he may not be over it, but if he found his lifelong love, then that would make me very happy," I replied with a forced chuckle.

"Well, I hope that's what it is then. You scared me there for a minute. I thought you were having a heart attack or something," he said, patting his own chest.

Damn, what's wrong with me? I probably did scare the poor man to death. With his wife dying of a heart attack, it probably did scare him! I felt awful that I had scared him. "I'm sorry, John. I didn't mean to frighten you. I was just trying to figure out what Paul wanted to speak to me about and it's been on my mind all day," I assured him.

"Its fine, Bella. As long as you're okay, I'm okay," he murmured, looking relieved. I smiled at him and finished my work. I begin to think of the _real_ reason, the reason that gave me such a start.

Jake told me once about imprinting. He said that once a wolf looks his mate in the eye that the only thing that holds him to the earth is _her_, that he will be anything or do anything for her, that nothing else matters but her. I remembered yesterday when he first arrived, that he was an ass, cussing and being a complete dick, until he looked at me, that's when everything changed. The woman he had with him walked out on him and he didn't even notice or seem to care. The way he sat in that booth watching me as I worked until even John had noticed, remarking that I had an admirer. Then he came back today, once again continuing to watch my every move.

He wasn't here for Jake. He really hadn't expected to see me here. One look and he had imprinted on me. I'm not even in Forks, and the supernatural are still following me around. Fate was following me. I couldn't escape it, even if I tried. No matter how far I had run, it found me anyway.

Did I want to have a relationship with Paul?

Hell, I don't even know him, but it's obvious that we were meant to be together. It's not like he was someone I met off the street. Fate chose him for me. Paul was my destiny, whether I wanted him or not. I knew it was true, because now that I thought about it, I could feel the pull to him. I felt the loss of his presence. My chest was bothering me, like I had felt when Edward left. This ache was not as painful, but the way it felt a year after he was gone. It felt dull, sore. There was this _want_… a need to be close to him.

I also remembered Jake explaining that the woman didn't have to accept the imprint. But I had often wondered if he had told me that because he planned to make his imprint hate him so she would reject him and he could stay with me.

At the time, I thought that sounded stupid. Why he would make the love of his life hate him just to be with me? It was ridiculous. I wanted nothing more than for Jake to be happy with the right woman, the girl that was supposed to be his mate. I knew I wasn't her, and that I was better suited to be his best friend for the rest of our lives. Of course, all this reminiscing about Jake reminded me of how much I missed our friendship. I also knew that it would never happen as long as he felt the way he did about me.

But if the woman could reject the imprint, what could happen to the male if she did refused? It sent a cold chill down my spine. The wolf couldn't be with another woman.

_Ever._

He would be alone.

The woman could go out and live her life with anyone she chooses, but the wolf couldn't. That seemed a little unfair. I couldn't understand it. If the female could live her life with someone else, then why couldn't the male? I shook my head in disgust. I couldn't help but feel sorry for Paul. He was probably terrified that I would reject him. It would certainly explain why he had seemed to so desperate to make me agree to talk with him.

From what Jake had mentioned, and from what I had seen with my own eyes, he had been quite the ladies man. Thinking about those muscles and sexy smile, I could see why.

I didn't approve of the way he used woman, but I guess fate took care of that, I thought with a giggle.

"Bella."

John's voice interrupted my train of thought. I stopped filling the containers and looked up at him. He was smiling and I could tell he was studying me. I smiled back.

"What are you thinking so hard about over there?" he asked.

I chuckled. "Just the past, John. Just the past," I replied wistfully.

Finally finished, I readied myself to leave as soon as Mandy showed up. I had to stop by the store to pick up the stuff to make the lasagna, salad, and garlic bread I had planned to cook for Paul. I kept very little at the apartment since I never really had the time or the need to cook.

After my quick stop at the store, I hurried home to put together our dinner and jump into the shower. While I was washing my hair, it dawned on me that if I accepted the imprint, what was going to happen to my career? I knew I could deny the imprint, but that would leave Paul alone for the rest of his life. But just the idea of Paul spending his life without a mate or spouse devastated me. It also disturbed me that I cared so much, since I didn't even know this man. Here I was, getting all depressed over someone I didn't even know! I sighed.

I had to make a choice. Did I want to give up my teaching career to be with Paul? Did I go to college for four years for nothing? I guess I could get a job at the school at La Push, or even Forks, if they had any openings. At the very least, I could do is call the university and talk to my counselor and find out my options.

After finishing my shower and dressing, I picked up my phone and called my counselor. To my surprise, she answered the phone. I told her that I had to go home and I didn't know how long I would be there. She apologized for it taken so long to get back to me, and that they indeed found me a teaching job. Instead of being excited over a job opening, I was almost disappointed, knowing that if I turned it down, the school wasn't obligated to help me find a job in the future.

But I couldn't stop myself from asking, out of curiosity, where the job was. I almost dropped the phone when, to my surprise, she explained that it was in Washington State, on a reservation called La Push. I was in total shock. How was this even possible? Had fate stepped in once again? Was it that important that I go home? Were the legends of the Quileute tribe that powerful? This was unbelievable to me! All this had happened in the course of two days.

Attempting to recover from my shock, I explained where I lived, and that this job opening couldn't have come at a more opportune time. She was as surprised as I was and congratulated me on my new job. She said she would let them know I was coming and would be ready to start at the beginning of the school year. I thanked her and hung up. I was in awe. It was almost as if I didn't need to make the choice at all, because it had already been made for me.

I sat there for a few moments, thinking about going home. It was almost a bit frightening. I would talk to Paul about it later on, which in turn reminded me that he wanted to talk to me. He was probably worried sick about telling me about the imprint. He probably thought I would turn him down because of my history with Jake. I was relying on him to help me with that once we returned home.

Poor Paul is probably sweating bullets trying to think of a way to tell me about all this, and here I sit making plans to return home with him. I chuckled over the serendipity of it all, and went to finish dinner. I was setting the table when I heard a knock on the door. I was suddenly nervous, and wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans. Quickly fluffing my hair, I walked quickly to greet my guest, knowing that once I opened that door, my life would never be the same.

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><p>So...What do you think? Let me know, Please...huggs<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

Destiny

A/N: I do not own anything Twilight, that honor goes to the one and only Stephanie Meyers

Also special thanks to goldengirl2707 for her great job of beta-ing this story for me.

Chapter 5

The Start of Our Forever.

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><p>After working on the cottage for the day, I packed up and made my way back to my motel room.<p>

I showered and dressed myself quickly, anxious to get to Bella. I checked and re-checked my appearance before leaving; I wanted to look perfect for my angel.

It didn't take me long to find the address Bella had given me, especially since there weren't many apartments in this tiny town. It was a small building with only three floors. I wondered which one was Bella's. I could see a group of windows on the second floor where the light filtered through the glass and I was almost sure that it was Bella's apartment.

I was so afraid of saying the wrong thing to her about the imprint. I was almost sure she would bolt, that I would probably never see her again. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath and then letting it out slowly.

Finally gathering my strength, I made my way into the building and up the stairs to the second floor. After finding the right apartment, I stood frozen in front of it, my fist positioned to knock, but unable to go through with it. My heart was beating so hard I could hear the roaring in my ears. It was pounding so violently that I was afraid it would break open my ribcage.

With another intake of breath, I knocked. After a few seconds, I heard her footsteps fall softly on the wooden floor as she made her way to the door.

The smile on her face instantly put me at ease. "Am I on time?" I asked, already knowing the answered, but I still wanted to be polite.

"You're right on time, Paul," she murmured sweetly. "Come in." She stepped out of the doorway and motioned for me to enter her small apartment.

As I followed her down a little hallway, I noticed not only was it nice, but that it was also clean. I wondered, as hard as she works down at the diner, when did she find the time to clean? I'd hoped that she hadn't rushed home to clean on my account. Even though the décor was simplistic and minimal, the place had _Bella_written all over it, and it pleased me.

My stomach growled from the mouth water fragrance wafting from the kitchen. I remember Jacob, Quil, and Embry gushing about Bella's skills as a cook. It used to make me hungry just listening to their thoughts.

"Paul, dinner is ready, but it's up to you whether you want to talk or eat first," she called to me from the kitchen. I raised an eyebrow at her question; did she really think I would talk to her on an empty stomach? That smell would drive me to distraction. I would never be able to bring myself to think of the right way of telling her while smelling that delicious morsel of food cooling in the kitchen. I swallowed before I spoke.

"I think it would be better if we ate first," I replied, chuckling.

She nodded and pointed to a chair at the dining room table.

"Please sit while I put the finishing touches on everything," She said, turning back to the food.

I made my way to the table, but then I looked back at the beautiful Bella. "Do you need some help?" I asked before sitting down.

"No, thank you, Paul. I can get it…please sit, relax! It won't take me a minute," she said, giving me a small smile. I sat down to wait and look at my surroundings while I waited for Bella to bring the dinner to the table.

After my fourth helping of her delicious lasagna, she got up to carry the dishes back to the kitchen. I jumped up to help her, despite her protests that she didn't need help, but I didn't take no for an answer this time. She washed as I dried and we finished quickly before making our way to the living room.

I could feel the palms of my hands start to sweat as Bella sat down to join me on the sofa. I rubbed them on my pant legs and took a deep breath, trying to work up the courage to tell Bella about the imprint. But just as I opened my mouth to begin, Bella started to talk.

"Paul, I can see how frustrated you are. I think I know what you're going to tell me so I should tell you that I already know what you're about to say," she said, as she looked down at her hands in her lap.

I stared at her, confused. How could she possibly know what I was about to tell her? She must be thinking something else all together. "Bella…I don't think you could possibly know what I've come here to talk to you about," I told her quietly.

She looked up at me and smiled. "Paul, I know all the pack's secrets. Jacob told me everything before I left," She looked down at her hands again before looking back at me. "I know he wasn't supposed to tell me anything and I hope he doesn't get in trouble for it, but yeah… I do know." Could she possibly know everything about the pack? She knew about imprinting, so maybe this wasn't going to be as bad as I thought. But if she denies the imprint then I'm fucked, so I needed to sit there and listen to what she had to say.

"Paul, I didn't know at first. I mean… the way you talked to me when we first met was nothing less than horrid," she said quietly, raising one accusing eyebrow in my direction. I cringed, remember the nasty things I had said, never mind the way I'd hung all over that blonde. I heard her giggle, and I looked up to see a teasing smile on her face. "It's okay, Paul; I've heard of your womanizing ways. I may not have met you when I lived in Forks, but Jake spoke of all the wolves at some point in time in our relationship," she continued with a giggle. I gave her a smirk, as I thought about killing Jake for talking about me behind my back, especially to people I didn't even know.

"I do know Embry and Quil since they hung out a lot with Jake and me, but I've heard about everyone else. When I first saw you, I didn't know for sure if you were from LaPush, but the well developed body gave me reason to suspect as much. At first, I couldn't figure you out; angry one second and calm the next. Looking back, I realized when you looked me in the eyes your whole demeanor changed. I didn't put it all together at first, but then this morning after you left the diner, there was something eating at the back of my mind, something Jake had told me before I left. It bugged me all day, but something happened when I got home. I called the university to check on my application to find work as an English teacher. I told them I would work in any school in the United States and after talking to my counselor this evening, I realized I couldn't deny the truth anymore." She paused then, studying her thumbnail with such intensity that I wondered if she was planning on finishing her story. I felt as my stomach tied itself in knots, the wolf howling in frustration inside me.

"The university found me a job, Paul," she finally said. I couldn't stop my mouth from falling open in shock; was she going to move? Was it somewhere far away from me? How was I going to handle this? I can't be away from her! I felt my hands begin to shake, and the wolf growled angrily. _Get it together, you ass! Make her stay, make her listen! Pay attention – she's not done yet!_That got my attention; my eyes snapped anxiously back to her beautiful face.

"Paul, they found me a job at the reservation school in La Push," she whispered, a small smile tugging on the corners of her mouth.

She was coming home! I had been so worried about telling Bella about the imprint. It seemed I had worried for nothing! Instead of killing Jake, I think I'll walk up to him and kiss him right on the lips. My heart sputtered in happiness, but my forehead wrinkled in confusion. "So, what do you think I came here to tell you?" I asked, hoping she knew exactly why.

"Did you imprint on me, Paul?" she murmured shyly, her cheeks turning an adorable shade of pink.

I nodded. "Yes…Bella, I did imprint on you," I confirmed. Thank the gods she knew already. I had spent the entire day worrying for nothing. I should have known that Jake would have told her everything about us. While that meant he broke the rules, I couldn't be happier that he had. It saved me from having to explain all of this and run the risk of losing her. I was sure he would be pissed about the imprint, but I'll worry about that later, I decided.

"Does this mean you accept the imprint?" I asked warily.

She stared at me for a minute before answering. "Yes, Paul, I accept it, but I would like to get to know you a little before we take it any further than friends," she replied. I nodded in agreement.

Even though I wasn't the type of guy to wait very long to have sex with any woman, I would have to with Bella; she was my imprint. I had to respect her feelings, so if she wanted to wait then we would wait.

I smiled at her. "Whatever you want Bella, I'll do whatever you want," I told her as she smiled back at me.

We sat and talked for what seemed like forever. She told me about what Jake had done to her and why she left. She talked of her experiences at the diner with the old man, John, including what his deal was, why she was so nice to him, and how she was going to miss him when she left.

I asked her if it would it cause a problem for her to leave the diner. She told me no, that they knew she would be leaving once word came from the university about a job. She said she will be happy to see Charlie again. I explained about Charlie's relationship with Sue Clearwater, and that there was talk of a wedding soon, which seemed to surprise her. She said she knew Charlie was seeing her, but didn't know it had gotten that serious. I felt bad that she seemed to know so little about her father's life now, so I filled her in on how he had sold the house in Forks and moved in with Sue. But I hadn't planned on her reaction to _that. _Her eyes grew wide with panic, as she jumped up and began to pace the floor.

"Bella, are you okay?" I asked worriedly.

She stopped and looked at me, sighing. "It's just that if I go home, I won't have anywhere to go. I'm sure I could stay with Dad and Sue, but with Leah and Seth already there, it would be rather crowded and I don't want to cause any trouble between them," she replied, as her shoulders slumped.

"Bella, you can stay with me," I said, bewildered by her reaction. I squashed that tiny flicker of hope that came from the wolf. _Friends_, I reminded him. He growled.

She started shaking her head before the sentence was even out of my mouth. "Paul, I can't do that, I'm sure you live with your family, I can't put your family out like that," she responded softly, still shaking her head no.

"Bella, I live alone. My parents have passed on. I'm all alone in the world now. Well, except for the pack, and now you," I explained insistently, smiling from ear to ear.

"Still, Paul, we're just starting out. We're getting to know one another, I don't think it would be right for me to just move in with you at this stage in our relationship," she said, but the wheels had already begun turning in my head. I got up and walked over to her and pulled her to me, gazing into her beautiful eyes.

"Bella, don't be silly! You know as well as I do that at some point you will be moving in with me. It's undeniable! Getting to know each other is only a formality before we give in to what desires await us. I agree that we should learn more about one another, but what better way than to live under the same roof? You need a place to go and I am not only offering, but _hoping_you will take me up on the idea… Please honey, make me the happiest man alive and come live with me in La Push?" I asked her.

She smiled at me shyly. I looked down at those luscious lips and I couldn't help myself, I had to taste them. I moved my head down and softly pressed my lips to her; it was soft and sweet. I felt Bella's hand on my chest before it moved up and over my shoulders and around my neck. She intertwined her fingers into my hair and pressed her lips harder against mine, making our first kiss more passionate. She whimpered into my mouth as I softly stroked her bottom lip with my tongue.

God, she tasted amazing. I had to have more of her, so I pulled closer, wrapping one hand around the back of her neck and the other at the bend of her back to force her closer to me. Guiding her backwards until we were flush against the wall, I lifted her until she wrapped her legs around my waist, both of us moaning as I pressed my body against hers. I could smell her arousal, and it was making me crazy. My wolf was fighting to take over and he wanted to take her to mark her as our own, but I knew Bella wasn't ready for that.

Reining the wolf in harshly, I pulled back until only the tips of our noses were touching. Bella's eyes stayed closed and I knew she was still feeling the effects of our kiss. I carefully reached up to cradle her cheeks in my palms before leaning in to kiss her lips, once, twice, then a third time.

I knew she knew about the legends of our tribe, but I wasn't sure if she knew as much about marking, and there was no way I would mark her until she was ready for it. I also knew that if I didn't back off, I was in danger of the wolf taking over completely. I was already lost in Bella. I didn't want to turn lose of her because we couldn't keep our hands to ourselves.

"Look at me, Bella," I whispered. She met my gaze, her eyes heavy with lust. "You told me we needed to take our time getting to know one another. I have to respect what you said to me, honey. If you want to take this further you have to tell me so, or we must stop this now." I half-hoped she would tell me differently so we could continue this in the bedroom.

She slipped down from my body and she cleared her throat as she tried to composed herself.

"I'm sorry, Paul. You're right; I did say that," she replied, her voice still soft and husky. "This imprinting stuff is something else. The pull is undeniable, isn't it?" With an awkward chuckle, she started to walk away from me, but I grabbed her arm and pulled her close to me again.

"Don't be sorry, Bella. I want you as bad as you want me and I wouldn't have stopped if you hadn't told me you wanted to be friends first. But I also couldn't ignore the boundaries you put in place. We are destined to be together honey, and at some time we will be together this way," I said fiercely. I didn't want her to brush this off. It was real, and it meant something to me.

As my words sank in, her expression grew serious, thoughtful. I couldn't help, but wonder if the light in her eyes was there because of me. The pull between the two of us was growing stronger. I knew it wouldn't be long before we consummated it as well. Once that was done there, was no taking it back; our fate would be sealed.

I knew it was starting to get late, and I had to head back to my motel room. It pained me to even thinkabout being away from Bella, even for a few hours. I could tell Bella felt the same way.

"It's getting late Bella. I should go and let you get some rest," I told her sadly. I worried she would be anxious for me to leave now that she understood how strong the imprint made our physical connection, but the look in her eyes told a different story. Fear filled her eyes and she jerked herself out of my arms, but she quickly composed herself as she walked to the sofa and sat down, facing away from me.

"Bella, what is it? What's wrong honey?" I asked, knowing what was bothering her, for it was affecting me in the same way. She shook her head, staring down at her hands. I walked over to her and stooped down in front of her, taking her hands in mine and pressing my lips to them.

"Paul, I know what I said about being friends and stuff, but…" She reached up to brush away the tears that had escaped. "But…do you think you could just stay? I don't mean to have sex or anything, I just…"

"You want me to stay? I'm happy just being by your side," I whispered softly. She smiled shyly, the relief evident on her face. I was glad she wanted me to stay, especially since that's what I wanted as well. As long as I was near Bella, it didn't matter if we were intimate or not, if I was near her and could hold her close to me, I would die a happy man.

Bella got up and took my hand, leading me to her bedroom. She grabbed her night clothing and headed for the bathroom. I stripped down to my boxers and climbed between the covers and leaned against the head board, waiting for my angel to return to the room. When she finally returned, she stood at the side of the bed in her tiny boy shorts and halter top. She was the most gorgeous woman I had ever seen in my life.

I watched as she gave me the once over. Her face was beet red. Her shy demeanor was so damn adorable that I decided right then and there that red was my new favorite color. I pulled back the covers, encouraging her to join me. She climbed in and laid down with her back to me and I chuckled at her shyness. I reached over her head to the small bedside lamp and I turned off the light and wrapped my arm around her waist. I maneuvered her gently, pulled her up against me and putting my other arm under her head until I was cocooning her as close to me as I could get. I hoped she was used to the heat, because I wasn't going to move and given my body temperature, I was sure she would feel like she had been in a sauna in the morning. Sighing contentedly, I realized I was in my own little heaven being this close to Bella.

That night I slept better than I had in my entire life.

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><p>Thanks everyone for all you reviews, It is all so appreciated...I love hearing from you all...I enjoy hearing that you are enjoying it and love hearing from you even if you don't care much for my story...you all have my heartwarming thanks...<p>

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	6. Chapter 6

Destiny  
>AN: Special thanks to goldengirl2707 for beta-ing this story, you rock…huggs  
>AN: I do not own anything Twilight, that honor belongs completely to Stephanie Meyers.  
>Chapter 6<br>Decisions, Decisions.

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><p>The next morning, I awoke to a tugging on my arm. I peeked through my sleep laden eyes to see Bella trying to maneuver her way out from under me. I smiled as I flipped her over to face me.<p>

"Where do you think you're going little girl?" I asked sleepily.

"I have to go to the bathroom, Paul," she pleaded. I chuckled and kissed the tip of her nose before releasing her to take care of herself. As she climbed from the bed and left the warmth of my arms, I saw her shiver from the morning air. I chuckled again, that's when I realized just how happy I was. I rolled over on my back, placing my forearm over my eyes and smiled once again, thinking how lucky I was to have this beautiful woman in my life. After a few minutes, I felt the mattress wiggle beneath me. I looked up to see Bella sitting on the side of the bed, watching me. I smiled at her.

"What is it, babe?" I asked, wondering what was on her mind.

"Nothing…I just…I haven't slept that good since I left home," she replied softly. I chuckled and told her I felt the same way, which seemed to please her.

"So, do you have to work today?" Checking the clock, I realized it was already nine a.m., and she was usually at the diner by six a.m. It was Tuesday, which meant a work day for most people.

"Nah…it's my day off. How about you?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm supposed to be there, but I pretty much make my own hours," I explained, leaving out how Sam would kill me if he knew I wasn't working on those cottages so I could be home by the weekend. Speaking of Sam, I realized we hadn't talked about when and how we would get home.

"Bella, when do you think you can be ready to go home?" I was hoping she would tell me soon.

"I don't know why? Do you have to be back by a certain time?" she asked.

I nodded hesitantly. I was afraid to tell her that it would have to be quick. "Well…yeah, I told Sam I would be done with the cottages by the weekend. He's expecting me home by then," I mumbled.

She looked at me sadly. "Oh…"

I stared at her, waiting for something else, but she just wrinkled up the sheet in her hands. Did she think I would leave her here? I hoped not, because what I really wanted was for her to be ready to go by then.

"Bella, um…can you be ready by then? If not I can talk to Sam and figure something out," I told her, knowing I would have to fight with Sam about being gone longer, but I didn't need to tell her that.

She looked up at me, the corner of her lips starting to curve into a huge grin.

"Did you think I would go back without you, babe?" I asked her lovingly. She hurled herself across the bed and wrapped her arms around my neck, kissing every inch of my face. I laughed at how affectionate and excited she was.

"You really don't mind if I go home with you?" She sounded almost shy, even though I thought I'd made it perfectly clear she could move into my house as soon as she wanted. What did I have to do to convince her?

"Bella, of course not!" I insisted. "I was hoping you would, but is that enough time for you to be ready?"

"Yes, Paul, I'll be ready. I really don't have a lot, just a few clothes and personal things. All this furniture came with the place. I'll just throw it all in the back of my car and follow you back to La Push," she explained.

With a frown, I realized I didn't want her to follow me; I wanted her in the same vehicle with me. It didn't hit me until now that she had her own car. I thought for a minute, trying to come up with a solution. "What if I rent a trailer and tow your car on the back of my truck? It will save you money for gas and you can ride along with me in my truck," I offered, hoping she'd say yes. My wolf would go nuts on the trip back, anxious because our mate was in a different car and something might go wrong.

She was quiet for a moment before saying, "Are you sure that's what you want to do, babe?"

I smiled at her use of an endearment, but nodded firmly. "I want you with me on our trip home," She agreed, and I was ecstatic that she wanted to be with me as well.

But then the thought of what we would be facing once we get home hit me. I needed to talk to Bella about it before we leave, and figured that I might as well get it over with now. "Honey, there's something else we need to talk about before we get home," I said slowly.

She looked at me, her expression confused. Then her smile turned sad, and she murmured, "He hasn't imprinted has he?" Damn it all if my girl didn't always know exactly what I was thinking… I shook my head, looking down and sighing.

"Has he gotten any better?" she asked.

"Any better?" I repeated, not knowing what she was talking about.

"Well…When I left, he was hateful and full of anger. Jake was in love with me, Paul, and mad as hell that I couldn't return that love. I loved him, and I still do, but as a friend. He has made it perfectly clear that our friendship came to an end," she clarified.

I sighed. Bella told me about what happened between the two of them last night, and it explained a lot of why Jake is the way he is. But Bella can't help if she doesn't feel the same way he does. I knew when she told me last night that her past with Jake would cause issues. While I had always known how the baby Alpha felt about her, she was mine now. He was just going to have to except that and move on. It was all easier said than done, but hopefully with Sam's help, he will accept it.

I pulled Bella into my arms and held her against my chest. "Babe, this is why I wanted to talk to you about this before we get home. Jake is…Well, he is a male version of Leah," I heard Bella gasp. "What?"

"Jake told me about Leah and what a bitch she became after Sam imprinted and left her for Emily. Oh my god Paul, is he that bad?" she exclaimed.

"You know about that?" I asked, surprised. Damn, is there anything Jake hasn't told this woman?

"Yeah, well, that was kind of fucked up, but Sam handled it the best he could. Leah and Jake haven't imprinted on anyone so they don't really know what it's like. I mean, they can see what goes on in the minds of the imprinted wolves, but I can tell you, unless you feel it for yourself, it's kind of hard to understand," I told her. "So I have an idea to help us steer clear of as much drama as possible, but it will involve leaving at a certain time. If we get to La Push in the middle of the night, we can avoid seeing anyone. We can contact Sam and have him met us at my house. We can explain everything to him and maybe with his help, he can get to Jake before he can cause too much damage."

"Too much damage? Can't Sam order him to stand down or something? So we won't have to worry about Jake flipping out and trying to hurt someone?"

Oh God, she doesn't know! I swallowed hard. "Babe… Sam isn't the alpha any longer," I whispered gently, trying to break the news easily.

She looked at me with a furrowed brow, completely confused. But then her eyes got big and round as saucers. "Oh… God… No!" she cried, her chin beginning to tremble. "Oh Paul, what are we going to do?"

I held her close to me and tried to comfort her. "Babe, hopefully Sam can help us. He took over as beta when Jake became Alpha," I explained. "If that doesn't work, we'll go to the council. You must understand that imprinting is one of our most sacred laws. Jake can't interfere with that under any circumstances." My words seemed to comfort her, and she burrowed deeper into my embrace, but her shoulders still shook. "Plus, Billy is one of the Elders. I knew he would see that Jake follows the law no matter what." She nodded, her cheek resting over my heart.

As we lay there, I knew she trusted me to take care of whatever needed to be done. "There's something else that might help, but… I don't know if you would be ready for something like that," I murmured into her hair.

She pulled back, gazing up at me with hope in her eyes. "What? If it will help keep Jake from going berserk, I'm all for it," she said anxiously.

"Well, I'm not sure you're ready for this, baby," I warned. But when she just sat there, staring and waiting for me to speak, I took a deep breath and said, "Okay, you probably know this already, but in case he didn't, there is a tribal ritual for imprints called marking."

She continued to stare, looking puzzled. "Marking? What is that? What's it for?" she asked.

I looked at her in disbelief. "You mean Jake didn't cover that part of our legends? He seemed to cover everything else," I snorted.

"Paul, please tell me what it means. If it can help I'm all for it," she repeated desperately.

I shook my head and sighed; she didn't realize the consequences of such an action. "Babe, it's something our wolves do. A way to mark their territory, so to speak," I told her.

"You don't have to pee on me or something, do you?" she asked with a chuckle.

I laughed with her; I was glad to see she was able to keep her sense of humor, despite the situation. "No…We bite them on the shoulder… or… where ever our imprint wants the mark, but mostly on the shoulder," I said slowly, deliberately leaving out the most important part of the process.

"Oh…will it hurt?" I opened my mouth to answer, but she interrupted me by saying, "It doesn't matter, I guess; we can do that. But what is the point of biting your imprint?"

"Well…after the bite, saliva of the wolf stays in the mark, and it makes imprint smell like her mate to the other wolves. It lets them know that you are mine. No other wolf can touch you but me. It also means if we do this that you will be mine in every single way. You will never be able to be with anyone else. You won't be able to have any children with any man other than with me. It is also looked upon by the tribe as sort of a mythical marriage," I turned to look at her cautiously, just waiting for her to turn and ran out the door.

"You are kidding, right? I mean, I know that with imprinting on someone means that you will be with that person for the rest of your life, but how does it stop me from having someone else's children? I mean, not that it matters, since I plan on being with you forever anyway, but it just sounds weird," she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest indignantly.

I couldn't help but get distracted by her righteous anger. "Forever, huh?" I asked cheekily, hoping for a smile. My grin widened when my wish was granted.

"Jerk," she giggled, scooting close to me again.

"I'm glad I haven't scared you off yet, but there is one down side to marking, babe, that I haven't told you about yet. I mean, I don't consider it a bad thing, but you said you wanted to take our relationship at a slower pace," I explained, already dreading her reaction to this kind of news.

"What does our waiting for intimacy have to do with marking?" she asked, looking confused.

I cleared my throat. "Well…ummm… I have to mark you while making love to you. More directly, I have to mark you during… our… um, release," I finally choked out, my voice just above a whisper. The idea of sex with Bella didn't bother me in the slightest, but given her request to take things slow, the last thing I wanted to do was embarrass her.

"Oh…" she said quietly as her face turned a rosy pink. I tried to be patient, giving her time to think things over, but after a few minutes, I couldn't stand it anymore.

"Honey, don't worry about it! We'll be fine, so let's just take it one step at a time," I pleaded, hoping to reassure her.

"No Paul, I think we should do it. I mean, not today, but before we leave," she interrupted, her words rush and hurried, all jumbled together by her obvious anxiety.

To say I was shocked was an understatement. She wanted me to mark her before we leave. My wolf was once again doing the happy dance in my head. _**Down boy, she didn't say it was happening today**,_I chastised him firmly.

**"_It doesn't matter she's going to let me mark her before we go home…,_**he growled in pleasure. I couldn't help by shake my head in disbelief. Not only had Bella accepted the imprint, but she'd also agreed to come home with me and let me mark her – all in one week!

"Well, now that, that is settled, what do you want to do today?" I asked her. I didn't want to embarrass her by going over the marking details now, so I figured it was time to move on to safer subjects.

She looked at me and smiled. "Well, I need to go to the diner and talk to Mandy to let her know that I will be leaving this weekend. She has hired another girl, but hasn't had her begin work yet, waiting for me to hear from the university. Now that I have, she'll need to know that I'm leaving. It's going to take me some time to get everything ready to leave, so we can have breakfast while we're there," she said.

The mention of breakfast immediately caught my attention: food! I was starving.

"What about you, don't you have to finish that job before we leave?" she asked.

I nodded as we got up getting dressed. "Yes, I do, but it's almost done. I only have a few details to take care of. I should be able to get it done in a day, maybe less. I only told Sam that I was behind on my work because I thought it might take me longer to make you understand about imprinting. Since you already know all about it, I have the rest of the week free," I replied with a smirk.

After a few other morning preparations, we headed out the door, climbing into my truck to make our way to the diner.


	7. Chapter 7

Destiny

A/N: I own nothing Twilight, that honor belongs solely to Stephanie Meyers.

Special thanks to goldengirl2707 for beta-ing this story…hugs

Chapter 7

OUR GOOD-BYE'S

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><p>As Paul drove us to the diner so I could talk to Mandy about leaving, I went over everything that happened in the last 12 hours. I smiled, remembering how flustered Paul had been trying to explain imprinting. I had considered just letting him stumble through it, but felt sorry for him knowing he was so afraid of my reaction.<p>

I had always assumed Jake had told me everything about imprinting, but he had apparently oh-so-conveniently forgotten about marking. I had to admit that it scared me a little, but it had also frightened me when Jake explained the legends.

The first time I saw Jake phase into his wolf, I thought I was going to pass out. I had believed him when he said the legends were true, but to see it come to life was a whole different story.

Jake was just as beautiful in his wolf form as he was human. His rustic color and huge size was astonishing. I remember running my fingers threw his fur, thinking it would be wiry and coarse, but instead it was soft as silk. I could see myself curling up next to him and sleeping peacefully, which I'm sure Jake would have liked as well. I just wanted to enjoy our friendship. I wanted to be there for him like he had been for me during the hard times after Edward left.

God, why did he have to be so reluctant to just be friends?

It had been so long since I had thought about this, and I knew it had to do with Paul and deciding to go home. I knew we would have to face a lot of despair when we got there, and couldn't stop myself from rehashing all those old mistakes, worrying about what would come next. Paul must have sensed my despair, because I felt him reach over and take my hand, bringing it to his lips to kiss my knuckles.

"A penny for your thoughts," he murmured gently.

I didn't really want to go over the whole Jake thing again, so I asked him a question that I really did want to know. "What color are you in wolf form?" I asked.

He chuckled and looked a bit surprised. "Does it really matter?" he replied.

I shook my head and gave him a shrug. "No. I know Jake is a russet color and that Quil is more chocolate. If I remember correctly, Embry is lighter brown with gray face. I just wondered what color you are," I explained. He looked at me in disbelief.

It occurred to me then that I had seen that confused look on his face multiple times in the last 12 hours. Was I really so unpredictable? Or had he just expected the worst from me? I wanted to ask, but the morning had been so nice and peaceful that I didn't want to ruin it by accusing him of such things.

"I guess you could say I'm sort of silver with black tendencies," he finally said.

"Will I ever get to see you in wolf form?" I asked.

He smiled. "If you'd like, I can show you once we get home," he answered, his eyes full of love as he gave me a quick glance. In just that few seconds I could see the love he had for me. It was hard to believe that imprinting could cause such a close relationship to form so quickly.

My heart melted. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I knew right then and there that I was in love with Paul Lahote. I would never be able to part from him again. So, if Jake had a problem with Paul and I being together, then he could bring it on, because I would not allow him to separate us. I couldn't help but feel shocked that I felt this intensely for a man I hardly knew, but fate had a funny way of making things come together.

When we arrived at the diner, Paul jumped out and ran around to open the door for me and help me out. We walked inside to find Mandy bantering with one of the customers. Mandy was a very verbal person, and she thought of each customer as family. They would kid around with her and she would always come back with something better to counter their actions.

When she saw us, she smiled. She stopped what she was doing and placed her hands on her hips. "What ya got there, Bells? He looks good enough to eat," she yelled across the diner, causing Paul and half the customers to howl in laughter, and me to turn every shade of pink known to man. Still chuckling, Paul squeezed my hand in support as we took a seat at the counter next to John.

My gaze fell on the face of the older man, his expression gleeful.

"Good morning, John," I said brightly as I tried to pretend my cheeks weren't still on fire. Paul nodded his head to him in greeting.

"Good morning, Bella, Paul. I see things worked out well with the two of you last night," he replied blandly, and once again, I blushed. Paul snickered softly. I wanted to glare at him, but the peaceful expression immediately melted away any irritation. He squeezed my hand again, and I looked up to see Mandy making her way to us. Oh, bloody hell. I thought this was going to be easy; just come in, eat, tell Mandy I was leaving and move on. It never dawned on me they would think something had happened between Paul and me. Not that it mattered; it wasn't any of their business in the first place. I sighed, swallowed hard, and prayed to do my best to get through this without passing out from embarrassment.

Mandy walked up to us, turned our cups over and poured us both a cup of coffee, all while eyeing my wolf. "Well, well, well. So is this the hottie John was telling me about this morning?" She asked, not taking her eyes off Paul as he sipped his coffee and politely ignored Mandy's little innuendoes. I watched him as he continued to smile and picked up a menu to what he was going to have for breakfast. I was immediately grateful that he didn't take the bait and become rude. I turned to John, gave him a 'thanks a lot' look, then faced Mandy.

"Yes, I suppose. I mean… I don't know what John told you," I said, feeling a little agitated. I glared at John again, who chuckled.

"Oh honey, don't get your panties in a twist. He just said that this guy from your home town showed up wanting to talk to you," she scoffed, clearly not put off by my annoyance. "I'm just messing with you, Bells!" I rolled my eyes, but didn't say anything. That was probably the closest thing to an apology I was going to get. "Hello, I'm Mandy, owner of this establishment," she exclaimed, ignoring me as she held out her hand for Paul to take.

"Paul Lahote. It's nice to meet you," Paul answered politely, taking her hand in his and giving it a light shake.

"My God, you are gorgeous," she replied abruptly, her eyes teasing.

Paul promptly choked on his coffee. He grabbed a napkin to clean off the liquid that dripped from his chin before finally chuckling. "Thanks," he finally said, but then turned quickly to look at me, his eyes full of concern, as if worried I was taking all this to heart.

I had known Mandy for the past four years, so her behavior didn't surprise me anymore. She always spoke her mind and was very straight forward with everyone. I kind of took it as a compliment that she found Paul as good looking as I did. And I knew, despite our imprinting, Paul _was_a man, and was no doubt pleased that my boss found him attractive. So I broke it up. "Mandy… do you think we could get some breakfast?" I asked, happy to interrupt her blatant ogling of my boyfriend.

She giggled. "Sure hon. What'cha gonna have?" she asked, pulling out her order pad and pencil.

"I think I'll just have some buttered toast with my coffee," I said, but she was shaking her head before I could even finish.

"You eat like a bird, sweet pea. How are you gonna put any meat on those bones eating like that?" she said, but she was already looking at Paul and not waiting for me to answer. "What'cha gonna have, lover boy?"

Paul chuckled again at her forwardness. "I'll have bacon with three eggs over easy with a side of sausage, and give me a stack of those flap jacks," he said, handing her the menu.

"Now that's the way to eat! You should talk your girl here into eating more than she does. If a strong wind ever blows by, it would pick her up and carry her off right along with it!" she exclaimed, and they both chuckled.

"Mandy," I said sternly, warning to get her off my back.

"Sorry hon. Just looking out for ya. So, what are you doing in here anyway? It's your day off; shouldn't you too be out having a good time?" She asked as she turned and hung the tickets in the window.

"I come to talk to you. I heard from the university," I replied.

She gave me a huge grin. "Well, it's about damn time," she bellowed. "So when you leaving us hon?" she asked anxiously. I gave an inner sigh of relief. I should have known she would have been happy for me.

"Well, Paul has to be back by this weekend, so I'm going with him. You know, get set up and all before I begin my job in the fall," I explained.

She looked over at Paul then at me with a confused look. "They placed you in a job in Forks? I thought you told them anywhere in the U.S. Why did they choose Forks?" she asked.

I chuckled. "That's the thing; it's not Forks! It's La Push High School! They probably didn't even realize how close Forks and La Push are, so it was must have been a coincidence. I guess it was just meant to be. Besides it's time. I need to face my demons, get it over and done with," I clarified.

Mandy knew what went on between me and Jake. I was a mess when I got here and she had taken me under her wing. She had helped me get over losing Jake as a friend. Considering, I still hadn't gotten completely over losing Edward as well. Saying I had been a mess was an understatement. She gave me a job and even set me up in the apartment I was renting. If it wasn't for her, I don't think I would have made it passed everything that had happened. She was a good friend. She was loud, straight forward and opinionated, granted, but she's still my friend none the less.

She nodded, smiling at me as she took my hands into hers. "Bella, you'll be fine. I'll hate to see you go, but I know you'll be okay. You're a strong woman. You've put up with so much crap here with these guys," she said as she pointed around the room. "Hell, they're afraid to say anything to you for fear you'll take their heads off. If anyone can face their demons, it's you kid. You go and give them what they deserve. If you need anything, and I mean _anything_, I'll be here. Just give me a call. If I have to, I'll drive my fat ass to that little town and bring you back. You will always be welcome here. You understand, sweetheart?" I could only nod as the tears pooled in the corner of my eyes. "Now no tears; this is a good thing! You should be celebrating. You've got this handsome man sitting here next to you. So after breakfast, go out have a good time, but you better come back, ya hear? Tell me good-bye before you leave. You got me, little bit?" Her words were upbeat, but I could still see the sadness in her eyes.

"Got ya," I replied softly as Paul put his arm over my shoulders and pulled me close to kiss the side of my head. She gave my shoulder a gentle pat before turning to the kitchen window and grabbing our still steam plates. Paul made a happy sound in his throat and immediately dug in.

"Are you going to tell me good-bye, Bella?" I turned to see John's pale face staring sadly at me. The tears that I had managed to hold back during my conversation with Mandy gave way and trickled down my cheek. I reached over and fell into his arms, and he held me as I cried.

"I think out of everyone I have met here, John, I'm going to miss you the most," I sobbed. He rocked us back and forth, patting me on the back until my tears slowed.

I had spent most of my time with John while here, so we had become close. I loved him as I would a grandfather. I often thought that we had healed each other. He had helped me when I was trying to come to grips with losing Jake and I had returned the favor by listening to him after losing his wife.

"I'll come back to visit, John, I promise. You're like family to me. You just can't walk away from family; not for long anyway," I said softly.

He smiled as he pulled away. "I'll hold you to that Bella. Just be happy, sweetheart. You're young! Make a life for yourself and that young man right there. I'll be here when you decide to come visit," he said. I sniffled. John held out a napkin for me to blow my nose on. I chuckled and took it from him, grateful that I had made such wonderful friends here.

XXX

The rest of the week passed quickly, and before I knew it, it was the night before we were to leave. We would leave early the next morning to get to La Push by Saturday sometime after midnight when we hoped we could arrive undetected by the rest of the pack.

Paul had worked it all out. He had called Sam and told him around what time he would be home, and that he wanted to see him when he arrived. He told him he had something very important to talk to him about and it needed to be done before sunrise Saturday morning. Sam tried to get Paul to tell him what it was all about, but Paul stubbornly refused talking to him about it over the phone.

He had assured Sam it had nothing to do with the cottages, that he finished them and had the check in hand for the work done, which Sam was happy about. He didn't like meeting with Paul in the middle of the night, but agreed anyway, and told Paul to call him when he got in.

Paul had went out earlier today and got a trailer to tow my car behind his truck. I once again tried to tell him it wasn't necessary, but he wouldn't hear of it. He wanted my company in his truck for the trip home and continued to beg me until I gave in. He helped me fill the back seat of the car with my clothes, knick-knacks I had collected while I was here, and a few books. What little food I had in the cabinets, I boxed up to take with us. I knew how the wolves ate, and I knew I would need as much as I could get to feed my wolf.  
>When the packing was all done, I cleaned the place from top to bottom. When I was finished, I found Paul lounging at the sofa. As I watched him relax, I remembered our little talk about marking and realized we hadn't done it yet. I was nervous, but I knew it had to be done. I made my way to my bedroom and found one of Paul tee-shirts in his bag. He had checked out of the motel the day we talked to Mandy staying with me since then. We had agreed that he didn't need to spend money for a room when we would be staying together soon enough. I jumped into the shower, and after blow drying my hair and brushing my teeth, I slipped on Paul tee-shirt. I walked out of the bathroom to find Paul lying on the bed, leaning against the head board. The smile on his face as he saw me was priceless.<p>

"You look good in my clothes, babe," he said, as he held out his arms, silently asking me to join him. Feeling anxious, I scurried across the room and jumped in his arms. He chuckled as he pulled me to his chest and kissed me on the forehead.

"Paul," I whispered nervously.

"Yes," he replied quietly.

"I want to do that marking thing you told me about tonight, before we leave," I blurted out.

I felt his body go stiff as he held me in his arms. He pulled me away just enough to look into my eyes, as if to gauge how serious I was. "Are you sure, baby? I mean… we can wait if you want to. There's no hurry," he said slowly.

"Don't you want me?" I whimpered; my stomach twisted into knots.

His eyes widened in shock. "Don't you ever think that, baby! I want you so bad it hurts. I just want to make sure it's what you want. I'm gonna be there for you no matter what. If you really want to do this thing tonight, then sure, we'll do it, but you have to be _really_sure, honey," he explained. As I stared back at him, I realized that if he marked me, then that was it. There would be no taking this back. I'd be his forever.

I sat up so he could see my face and understand just how serious I was. I didn't want him to think I was asking for this out of fear or loneliness. "Paul, I told you I understood it. I know what it will mean if you mark me. There is no place I would rather be than with you. I love you, Paul. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I didn't think I would feel this way so quickly but there is no one else; you're it for me, baby," I swore, cupping his cheeks in my hands.

He looked deep into my eyes, as if measuring my sincerity, before crushing his lips to mine. He pulled me to him, holding me tight against his chest as our lips moved together. He rolled us over until he was lying on top of me, resting his weight on his forearms His tongue lightly grazed over my bottom lip as if he were tasting me, our tongues sweeping together on a passionate dance, I clung to him, desperate to get him closer. His hot skin felt like it was branding mine, and I felt desire race through me, setting my body on fire.

We fit together like two puzzles pieces. We belonged together.

I was totally lost in Paul.

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><p>Can anyone guess what happens next? Wiggling my eye brows while giving my readers a smirk… Coming very soon…thanks for reading everyone…hugs muwah 3<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

DESTINY

"Lemony goodness"

A/N: Special thanks to goldengirl2707 for beta-ing this story for me, you rock girlfriend…hugs

A/N: I do not own Twilight, that honor belongs only to Stephanie Meyers.

Chapter 8

Back to LaPush

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><p>Paul kissed me long and hard, sending my head spinning from the feel of his warm lips on mine. I felt like hot butter, melting into his arms. I was completely lost in him, both of us moaning in pleasure. I pushed my hands slowly up his chest, feeling every ripple and muscle of his firm strong body until my hands rounded his shoulders. I slid my hand into his hair, my fingers intertwined in his black silky locks, pulling him harder against my lips. His lips left soft kisses on my jaw before nibbling on my ear, as he softly moaned out my name.<p>

"God Bella," he whispered, as his mouth found my collar bone. He was gentle as he kissed, sucked and nipped at my skin, leaving me feel like my body was on fire. He could have had anything he wanted of me at that moment; all he had to do is ask, because I was that far gone.

"Paul," I moaned, spreading my arms to grab onto the sheets, as if I was able to hold myself down as his hands explored ever inch of my body. He pulled the tee-shirt I wore over my head, quickly discarding it on the floor. He disrobed himself, adding his clothes to the pile. He looked down on my now naked body as his lusty growls voiced his obvious approval. My eyes lowered to see the muscle between his legs. I groaned nervously, wondering how the hell that was going to fit. But when I heard his voice, I forgot everything else, and I was once again lost in Paul.

"You're so beautiful, baby," he proclaimed, his fingers grazing across my harden nipples. I arched my back, reveling in the softness of his touch, groaning once again.

"Paul, please," I begged as he massaged my breasts softly, as he kissed his way across my chest. I felt a charge of electricity connecting our bodies, pulling us closer together. He slowly began to travel further south as he continued worshiping every inch my body, and with every touch burning passion rippled through me; it felt as if it was reaching inside me, touching my very soul. Just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, he looked up at me and grinned as he took in a deep breath.

"Fuck baby, you smell so good," he moaned. He moved between my legs and pushed them apart, licking and kissed the inside of my thighs. With just one touch of his lips to my skin, he sent shivers across my body. I watched as he took in another deep breath, inhaling my scent.

Paul

_Fuck_, being this close to Bella was driving me insane! I couldn't believe she wanted me to mark her, but I hadn't sensed any anxiety or discomfort when she'd asked, so who was I to argue with my imprint?

I'd wanted to do this since the first time I saw her at the diner, Hell, if I'd had my way, I would have bent her over the damn table and fucked her in front of the whole damn diner! Well, that's what the wolf had wanted, and man, was he doing the happy dance when Bella ask me to mark her. Hell, I was _still_ fighting him, holding him back so that I wasn't jabbing my cock into her clean up to my balls. I took a long deep breath, taking in her scent. "Fuck, you smells so good, baby," I whispered.

She was so hot, she was dripping. I wanted so bad to take her, but I wanted this to last. She was begging me to slip inside of her, but I wanted to make this as memorable as possible, especially since it was her first time. I wanted her to feel how much I loved her. I don't want her to think that all I wanted from her was a quick roll in the hay, but hell, I did know I couldn't help but be quick this first time. She was tight as hell; I could tell that now. I leaned down and slipped one of my fingers between her folds, into her hot tight wet walls, sliding in and out a few times as I nibbled on her bundle of nerves. God, she tasted amazing; sweet and salty.

"Mmm… so good."

"Oh! Paul…please…I need you in me now," she begged.

"Patience, baby, we'll get there," I murmured softly, slipping a second finger in. Fuck, she's not making this any easier on me. I began moving my fingers into her faster, sucking on her bundle a little harder until she cried out. I couldn't help but feel proud for being the first man to give her an orgasm.

"Paul!" She grabbed at my hair, trying to pull me closer. Her juices flowed over my fingers and into my hand.

Fuck… I was losing control! Hearing her call my name as she cums, her scent filling my senses; Fucking hell! I just want to sink myself so deep inside of her that she feels me in her throat! I just can't take it; I've got to be inside her. I can't wait any longer.

I flipped her over on her stomach and pulled her up on her hands and knees, knowing that this would be the easiest position to be in to mark her. I felt my cock slid against her entrance, finding her warmth like a homing beacon. I bent over slowly, rubbing my hand up her back until I reached her hair. I brushed it to the side so it draped over her other shoulder. I whispered into her ear, "Are you sure you want to do this baby?"

She nodded vigorously. "Yes…Please, Paul," she begged again. She was even wetter than before, thanks to the orgasm, so I could easily slip the head of my cock inside her. I couldn't stop myself from moaning as I felt the pull in my lower stomach, my balls were already aching. I held my body still for a few moments, trying to compose myself. Finally, I took a deep breath and carefully rocked forward, feeling her stretch with the girth.

"God, you're so tight, baby," I moaned, still sliding gently inside her until I felt it; the barrier. I leaned forward, pulling her up until her back met my chest. I used one finger to coax her to turn her head, kissing her until she was breathless. "I'm sorry," I whispered, then I forced through the thin membrane, burying myself to the hilt inside of her.

"Fuck," I sighed against her lips, feeling her internal muscles clench around me.

She whimpered, and I forced myself to hold still until she was ready, using the time to gain control over myself again. I was fighting to keep from blowing my load. I _needed_ her to have her release before I did, and I hoped I could hold out that long. I reached around her body to massage her breast, softly tweaking her small nipples between my fingers. She moaned again, moving her hips to try and force me deeper inside her. I could feel the electricity from the imprint traveling through our bodies, connecting us on a spiritual level. Slowly, I began to move, gently pushing in and out of her.

"Fuck, you're tight," I groaned, still trying to stay in control, wanting to please Bella before myself. I move carefully at first, gaining momentum as I felt her body relax and adjust around me. I can hear her panting in pleasure, and our bodies were covered in a sheen of sweat. I knew she was getting closer to another orgasm as her walls began to tighten around me. I ground my teeth together, praying to hold off my own release.

"Ohhh…Paul…I'm so close," she cried, pushing back against me.

"Cum for me, baby," I panted, almost unable to speak.

I continued to pound into her, sliding my fingers down her body to her bundle again, pressing against it a little harder. She moaned, and I could feel her muscles fluttering around me; I'm almost there. _God,_ it's never felt this good before.

My dick swelled, growing harder as my stomach tightened. Bella screamed my name, her internal muscles grabbing at me like a vice grip, so hard it's almost painful. My hips moved faster, my own release fast approaching; oh my god, this is going to be amazing!

Bella's never-ending climax finally pushes me over the edge, and I throw my head back, roaring as the most powerful orgasm I've ever had in my life rushes through me. My lips peeled back as my wolf's K-9's appeared. I leaned down, burying my teeth into the soft skin at the curve between her neck and shoulder, my body shuddering as I empty myself inside her. We collapsed down onto the mattress, as I pushed into her a few more times, as we came down slowly from our blissful high. Exhausted, we lay together as the pleasure dimmed into a soft afterglow.

My teeth gently released their grip her shoulder, and I licked the wound until it closed. I rolled to the side, bringing Bella to my chest. We laid there with our eyes closed; panting as we tried to regain our composure. I felt Bella shiver and I looked down at her; her hair was covering her face and she was fighting to catch her breath. I pulled her closer to me, covering us both with the blanket. I gently brushed her sweaty hair from her face. She was flushed and her eyes were closed, her face bright with post-coital bliss.

I chuckled. "Are you alright, baby?" I asked, hoping I didn't hurt her badly.

She opened her heavy eyes, still glowing, a smile on her face. "I'm better than okay, Paul. That was the most amazing feeling I've ever felt in my life," she replied softly. I smile at her in agreement.

We laid there for awhile, relaxing, before I found the energy to check her body to make sure I didn't harm her in any way. I breathed a sigh of relief when the only marks I found were from my teeth. I kissed the mark, feeling Bella shudder in response. I chuckled, pleased at how happy my girl was feeling. She snuggled closer to me and buried her head into my neck. I held her tight as sleep took over.

~*X*~

After a late night of making love, morning came way too early for us. She said she wasn't that sore from last night, but I knew better. I saw how she winced when she got up from the bed. Desperately wanting to help, I got up and ran her a hot bath. I made her soak while I packed everything into the truck setting aside one extra bag for Bella's personal things that she needed for after her bath.

We were ready to leave, checking the apartment one last time for anything we might have over-looked. I helped Bella into the truck, and I couldn't help, but give her a little peck on the lips before closing the door. I checked to make sure Bella's car was secure on the trailer before climbing into the driver's side of the truck.

Bella had said her good-byes yesterday to Mandy and the gang at the diner, so we were all set to go. I looked over at my angel and smiled. "Ready, babe?" I asked.

She nodded. "More than ready, baby," she replied, grinning from ear to ear. I returned her smile and with a wink, I started the truck and began our journey back to LaPush.

Bella was completely mine now; my mate, my wolf's mate. Hell, my wolf loved her as much as I did. She wore our mark. She was ours and I couldn't be any happier than I was at that moment. I couldn't believe how angry I had been about imprinting on Bella in the beginning. I couldn't believe I fought my wolf about wanting Bella, but he knew she was right for us. He knew and he fought to make Bella ours. Now, I was glad he did, because I couldn't even imagine a life without her in it.

We traveled straight through, only stopping for quick breaks for food or the bathroom, so we made it in record time. As we passed the "Welcome to Forks" sign, I noticed Bella looked nervous. She bit her finger nails and was fidgetedin in her seat. I reached across the cab and pulled her fingers from her mouth, bringing them to my lips and kissing her knuckles.

"You alright, babe?" I asked, knowing she wasn't.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, still nodding.

I raised an eyebrow at her. I wasn't fooled. "What's wrong, angel?" I pressed, knowing she was lying to me. She lowered her head and placed her hands in her lap, sighing.

I angled the truck over to the side of the road and pulled her to me.

"Talk to me, honey. What is it?" I asked, feeling worried.

She looked up at me, her expression sad.

"It's nothing, Paul. I guess I'm a little nervous, that's all. I don't want to disrupt the Pack. I love you, but…" Her voice trailed off and she lowered her head again.

"Bella, you don't have to be nervous. I'm here for you and as far as disrupting the pack, you won't be. The only one that will have a problem with the imprint will be…well… you know, and that's why we left when we did, so we can have Sam intervene for us, remember?" I said, trying to sound upbeat.

"You think the rest of the pack will be okay with us?" she asked, still looking concerned.

"Of course, honey. They'll love you, and you know Quil and Embry. They love you all ready. They'll be glad to see you. Plus your dad; he'll be over the moon to see you," I replied, hoping that mentioning Charlie would improve her mood. She instantly smiled and chuckled, knowing I was right. "Okay?" I continued waiting for her to perk up a little before we continued on to LaPush.

"Okay, Paul…I guess you're right," she said finally, and I was relieved that she sounded more positive.

"I know I'm right babe, no more worrying, okay?" I teased, placing a gentle kiss on the top of her head. She nodded and gave me a small smile. "Okay… let's get home so we can call Sam." I pulled back out on the road heading for La Push, determined to get us both home as soon as possible.

Bella seemed to perk up a bit after that. We passed the "Welcome to La Push" sign and I had never felt so glad to be home in my life. I looked over at Bella, pleased to see her smiling at me.

Finally, we pulled up in front of my house. I turned off the ignition and the lights, leaving us in total darkness. I pulled out the keys, and held them in my hand to unlock the front door. I got out and ran around to open Bella's door. I watched her as she stepped out and gazed at my house. I felt nervous, hoping that she wouldn't be disappointed… I was sure she couldn't see much, since it was approaching two in the morning. I held Bella's hand as we walked up to the door. It was still warm out, so I didn't know what to expect once I opened my door, given that it had been closed up for the last couple of months.

I unlocked the door and went in first. I flipped the switch to the over head lamp, and bright light flooded the room. I looked over at Bella, smiling. "Welcome home babe," I said softly, and she smiled back at me before wandering into the kitchen to explore. The house was a little musty, since it had been closed for so long, but it wouldn't take long to fix that problem. I walked over opening a few windows to let in some fresh air.

"We'll worry about unpacking the car in the morning. Right now I need to call Sam, and then get our bags from the truck so we can get to bed. I don't know about you, but I'm worn out from the trip, especially when we didn't get a lot of sleep last night," I explained, waggling my eyebrows suggestively, laughing when she blushed. "I think I've got some coffee in the cabinet if you'd like some. I don't have much anything else, since I pretty much cleaned out the refrigerator before I left. I didn't want to come home to a mess of rotten food or spoiled milk."

"I don't want anything Paul, but thanks for offering. Let's just have our talk with Sam. I'm so tired," she said with a yawn.  
>"Okay baby, I'm going to run out and get our bags. Why don't you go and relax on the sofa? I'll be right back with your stuff so you can get ready for bed while I call Sam," I replied. She nodded and walked towards the living room while I ran out to get the bags. As I began pulling items from the back, I heard the front door swing open, and Bella ran out, grabbing hold of me and burying her head in my chest. She was shaking and whispering something so low that even my wolf ears couldn't hear.<p>

"Honey, what's wrong?" I asked, wondering what could have happen in the short time I had been outside. I pulled her away from me, and the fear I saw in her eyes frightened me. "Bella, tell me what happened?" I demanded, holding her out at arm's length, hoping I would be able to understand her this time.

"There's someone in the house," she croaked. "I heard them moving around upstairs." I turned, looking towards the house. I locked the house up good and tight before I left. Break-ins on the rez were pretty unusual, but if Bella said she heard someone then evidently there's a first time for everything.

"Come on babe," I told her as I led us both back into the house. I dropped the bags by the door, and pushed Bella behind my back, just in case we did confront someone. I gestured towards to sofa, silently telling her to go into the living room while I checked out the house. She nodded and moved away, sitting down gingerly, still looking terrified. Slowly and quietly, I climbed the stairs. I looked into the bathroom first, but it was all empty. I pushed open my bedroom door and stuck my head in. I could hear soft breathing, and the even thumping of a heartbeat. Given the gentle pattern, the intruder sounded asleep.  
>Hoping for the element of surprise, I flipped on the light. There was someone in the room and they were sleeping in my bed! I growled, the hair on my neck standing up, furious that someone would invade my privacy in this way. I reached down, yanking the covers off the bed. My mysterious visitor jumped, hanging onto the blankets for dear life, but it was too late; they were already exposed.<p>

"What the _fuck_ are you doing in my house?

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><p>"Okay…there you go… a little cliffy for ya…hehehe…sorry, but at least their home. Let me know what you think…and thanks for reading, and I want thank all of you that have reviewed thanks for all your kind words and support…it mean a lot as you all well know…thanks everyone…hugs.<p>

Next we find out who been slepping in Paul's bed and meet with Sam…huggs


	9. Chapter 9

**Destiny**

A/N: I do not own Twilight, that honor belongs to Stephanie Meyers

A/N: Special thanks to my beta goldengirl2707, thanks for all you devoted help…huggs

** Chapter 9**

**Facing My Demon's.**

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><p>"What the <em>fuck<em> are you doing in my house?" I screamed.

"Paul! Man, I didn't think you would be back this soon," Quil yelped, jumping up from the bed, yanking on the arm of some skank he had just screwed. I scowled at him, realizing they were both naked as the day they were born.

"Quil…What's going on?" the girl whined, tugging on the sheet in an attempt to keep herself covered.

I heard Bella in the hallway, her steps hesitant as she came closer to the door. "Paul… Is everything okay?" she asked, sounding concerned. She'd probably heard me yelling at Quil. I looked back at her, grabbing her and pulling her behind me so she didn't see the stupid naked guy standing in my bedroom.

"Bella? Bella Swan? Is that you?" Quil asked, clearly surprised to see my angel. He smiled, obviously happy to see her after two years, but I snarled at him, and his initial pleasure instantly disappeared.

"Quil! Why are you in my house?" I growled.

"Paul! Man, I'm sorry! I didn't know you would be home tonight. Em and I went out. We picked up these girls, and you know I couldn't take them to my house and we sure as hell couldn't take them to Em's since our parents are there and all, so… we kind of… brought them here," he stumbled around, trying to explain.

"Wait…what do you mean you _and_Em? Embry is here too?" I asked. I looked at Bella, trying to smile so she wouldn't be so worried, before I turned around to give Quil another death glare. Of course, Embry chose that exact moment to wander into the room.

"Quil… what the fuck man? What's up with all the noise?" Embry said from the doorway, his eyes half-closed as he scratched his head, yawning. I growled at him, and he blinked, suddenly realized I was standing there. He jolted awake, his face twisting into a mask of fear.

"Paul! I...I…didn't think you were back," he stuttered. I bared my teeth at him, still furious. He sniffed the air, and then looked over my shoulder, finally noticing Bella. One eyebrow arched as a smile crept onto his face.

"Bella? Is that you?" he asked, surprised to see her. He started across the room to pick up Bella and give her a hug, I stopped him in his tracks before he got anywhere near her. I snarled at him, warning him to back up and I could feel the tremors, as they spread through my limbs. Bella noticed that my control was slipping, began to rub my back, whispering to me a warning, a reminder about the girl in the room. I looked over at the girl who was clearly frightened by my appearance.

Bella continued rubbing my back, whispering to me that it will be okay and slowly the sound of her voice and the touch of her hand completely calmed me, something no one has ever been able to do before. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, allowing her sweet scent to soothe me. Finally, I opened them and glared at the two idiots standing in front of me.

"Get dressed and meet me down stairs! NOW!" I shouted, as I pulled Bella with me down the stairs into the living room. I sat on the sofa and settled Bella on my lap, burying my face into her hair as she gently stroked my head.

After a few minutes I got up, placed Bella on the sofa and went to the phone and called Sam. I let him know I was home and told him about what I found when I got here. He sighed, and then said he would be there in a few minutes.

**~*Bella*~**

After we finally arrived at Paul's house and made our way inside, he went back out to get our bags so we could get ready for bed. He was tired as I was and I couldn't wait to have our talk with Sam so we could finally climb into bed for some much needed sleep. I couldn't believe that I was home again. Although I was scared out of my mind about being back, but I was also glad to be home. I had missed Charlie and Billy, as well as the reservation. I couldn't help but remember all the good times I'd had here only a few years ago; it was my home away from home. I especially loved the beach. Even with the harsh words from Jacob back then, I still loved my memories of our good times on the beach with Embry and Quil. I knew we were going to have to face Jacob sooner or later. I was frightened because I didn't know what to expect, but I also knew it had to be done. The sooner we got it over with, the better off we would be.

When I heard a noise coming from upstairs, it had frightened me. I had run out to get Paul, knowing he would protect me. But when I heard him yelling, I was worried something terrible had happened and couldn't stop myself from going after him. I had been surprised to see Quil and Embry in Paul's house and I could tell it completely pissed Paul off that they were in his house without permission. But when he began to shake and growl something fierce, I knew I had to calm him down, so I started rubbing his back, trying to warn him of the girl in the room. Thankfully, he seemed to understand and calmed down.

I knew I would have to come back and face my demons sooner or later. I just didn't think it would be by way of Paul Lahote as an imprint. I sighed, feeling frustrated. I really hadn't expected to see Em and Quil our first night home.

I was worried that they would run to Jacob and tell him I was back and with Paul, before Sam had the chance to talk to him. That would be bad, and I mean _really_ bad. I got up from the sofa and walked over to the window, looking out at the surrounding area… There was a breeze blowing through the open window, and I breathed deeply, taking in the salty air that helped calmed my nerves. That is, until Paul walked back in with Embry and Quil.

"Man, Jake's gonna flip when he finds out you're back. You know you're still all he thinks about, don't ya, Bells?" Embry asked, and I cringed at his use of Jake's nick-name for me. I looked over at Paul, who was watching me sadly. I lowered my head, closing my eyes.

Paul walked over and stood in front of me before turning to look at the guys. "You are not going to tell Jake that she's back yet! You got that?" he growled, his jaw tightly clenched.

"Why not?" Quil asked, confused. "Hey, why are you here with Paul anyway?" His gaze flicked quickly between me and Paul. You could see the wheels turning in his head. As his eyes widened, I realized he had figured it out. I watched him take a deep breath and sighed. "You didn't… did you, Paul?" Paul just growled at him again, as Sam finally walked in.

"Quil, Embry…what the hell were you doing in Paul's house when he wasn't home?" he snapped, clearly frustrated. "Get the hell out of here, take those girls home and meet me at the house! And hurry the fuck up; it's late and I want to get some sleep before I have to work tomorrow," he ordered, pointing at the door.

"No, wait," Paul said, and Sam turned to look at him, confused. I'll never understand how he failed to realize I was standing there, Sam finally notice me. His forehead wrinkled in confusion, as he look to Paul for clarification.

"Is that who I think it is?" he asked. I knew he had never met me, but I was sure the whole pack had seen me in their heads. I could see that Sam was bewildered, trying to figure out why I was with Paul. I knew he had put it all together when he too closed his eyes and sighed. "Shit."

"Yep…that is Bella Swan. You know, Jake's-" Quil started to say, but Paul's angry scowl shut him up.  
>"Is that what you wanted to see me about?" Sam asked.<p>

Paul nodded, and then sneered at his unannounced houseguests. "Yeah, but I didn't think I would have an audience!" He shouted at Quil and Embry, who seemed to be trying to hide behind Sam.

Sam turned toward Quil and Embry, shaking his head. "Quil, Embry, you are not to speak of this to anyone until I have a chance to speak to Jake, is that understood?" he asked, his voice rolling with authority. I could only assume he was giving them an order, which made me wonder if Jake had made him Beta. I could only hope that his command was strong enough to keep them from telling about me being here with Paul.

"Yeah Sam, we hear you. Welcome home, Bella," the boys chorused as they led the girls out of Paul's house before disappearing into the night.

Paul turned to me and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me into his arms and kissing the top of my head, before gently leading me over to the sofa. Sam joined us. "It's nice to finally meet you, Bella. I'm sorry it had to be this way though, with Quil and Embry interrupting everything. You should just ignore them. They are kind of… promiscuous," he explained. I nodded in understanding. "It's nice to meet you finally as well, Sam," I replied. "I heard a lot about you from… Jake… before… I left and I know how they can be, I knew them from before."

He nodded quickly before turning to Paul. "So… did you…you know?" he asked, obviously trying to ask Paul what had happened without exposing any pack secrets.

"She knows Sam. Jake filled her in about everything evidently. She knew I imprinted before I even had a chance to explain it to her," Paul clarified.

"Really? Well that was convenient. I bet you were glad about that… you know, glad you didn't have to explain it all to her. So… did she accept the imprint?" he stumbled over his congratulations, as I looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Umm… _She_ is sitting right here!" I snapped, not liking that Sam was avoided addressing me. "And in answer to your question; Yes, I did accept the imprint and Paul has already marked me,"

Sam had the grace to look ashamed before looking at Paul in surprise. "You marked her already? Without permission?" he asked.

Paul put his arm around me and pulled me to him protectively, but allowed me the opportunity to answer for myself. "Yes! He did, and he had permission from the only person that matters – ME! I gave it to him, and I wanted him to do it, as a matter of fact. It was even my idea," I added, not caring that it was a lie, because I wasn't about to get Paul in any trouble for something that I had wanted him to do in the first place. Now, I hadn't known that Paul needed permission for that sort of thing, most likely from the council, but it didn't matter to me. There was no way I would allow him to get in trouble about this.  
>"Feisty little thing, isn't she," Sam asked with a smirk.<p>

Paul chuckled and looked at me lovingly. "It was _my_ idea Sam, not Bella's, but yes, she did ask me to do it," Paul explained, and I tried to interrupt, but Paul wouldn't hear of it, placing a gentle finger against my lips to quiet my protests.

"Okay… So… what do you want me to do? You know Jake is going to go ballistic right?" Sam wondered out loud, looking between Paul and me."Look Sam, Jake has no right to be mad about this. I tried to get Jake to understand that we were just friends a long time ago. This is his problem; not ours. He just needs to understand that Paul and I are together now and get over it," I said sharply, crossing my arms over my chest in defiance.

He grinned at me, shaking his head back and forth. "I understand where you're coming from Bella, and maybe what you say is true, but Jake has changed since you've been gone and I do mean _a lot. _I know you are hoping that it will all be okay, but it isn't going to be that easy. I may be able to run interference for you, give him a chance to calm down before you have to face him, but…" he trailed off, shaking his head again. "It isn't going to go well, I can promise you that. You may be able to control your reactions to him, but…Paul is another story. Jake is Alpha now, and he has the ability to make Paul's life a living hell. But I may be able to threaten him with the council. It will help that Billy is chief and head of the council. Billy also knows how the imprint works. He also knows it's our most sacred law to keep our imprints protected at all costs."

Sam took a deep breath before continuing. "But…as I said, Jake has changed since the last time you saw him. I'll do what I can to help you since I understand the pull of the imprint, but Jake isn't. He may know from inside our heads how it works, but he doesn't know how important our imprints are too us. He may even understand that it is powerful thing, but… Jake thinks he can fight the imprint if it ever happens to him. He truly doesn't understand the concept of the whole thing. But I can promise we'll help as much as we can," he said finally, sighing.

"That's all we ask, Sam," Paul replied.

"Okay…I'll talk to him in the morning. I'm sure he'll come here after I speak to him, but… after that, Paul, you and Bella come to my house. Bella can meet Emily and Kim while we talk," he said, brushing off his pants as he stood to leave. "Bella, it's nice to finally meet you. Welcome to the pack."

"Thanks Sam," Paul and I replied, watching, as he nodded and walked out the door, finally leaving us alone.

Paul locked the door and reached over to pull me into his arms. "Come on, baby, let's go to bed," he said. I nodded, too exhausted to say more. He moved around quickly, turning out the lights and grabbing our bags, before leading the way upstairs.

After getting ready for bed, I changed the sheets, disgusted by the thought of sleeping where Quil had been only hours before.

I decided to change the other sheets where Embry had been tomorrow. I was just too tired to do it tonight. We finally slipped into bed, and I quickly cuddled into Paul's arms, soon falling fast asleep.

We were sleeping so soundly that we hardly heard the banging at the door. When they began shouting, Paul rolled over and growled, threatening to kill whoever it was at the door. "Fuck! Who the hell is pounding at the fucking door at the time of morning," Paul yelled, still half asleep. I looked over at the clock and saw it was already 11:45 a.m.

"Paul, it's almost noon," I said, but he pulled me tightly against his chest and kissed my forehead, obviously hoping that whoever was at the door would just go away.

But the pounding continued, and I could hear the vibrations of the fierce knocking through the floor…

"I'm fucking killing whoever is down there!" Paul swore as he dragged himself out of the bed, scratching his head and yawning, before making his way down the stairs. I got up and slipped my robe on over my Paul's tee-shirt and went into the bathroom to brush my teeth and comb my hair.

I heard Paul as he yelled at whoever had been rude enough to be that loud.

Just when I thought Paul had handled it, I heard **"Where the fuck is she?"** from a voice I hadn't heard in over two years. Swallowing hard, I took a deep breath before heading towards the stairs to slowly make my way down the stairs to finally face my demons.

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><p>A little cliffy there for you…hehehe…wonder who that could be? Hehehe…till next time…hugs<p>

Sorry guys for the last cliffy...I know a lot of you thought it was going to be one of Paul's conquests...but thank god it wasn't...I hope you enjoyed this chapter...let me know...huggs.


	10. Chapter 10

**Destiny**

A little shower lemony goodness.

A/N: Special thanks to Goldengirl2707 for her excellent job as a beta…you rock girl.

A/N: I own nothing Twilight. That honor belongs to the one and only Stephanie Meyers.

A/N: I want to thank all of you that have read and reviewed this story It is greatly appreciated… and now it's time for Bella to face Jacob…enjoy…huggs

**Chapter 10**

**The Confrontation**.

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><p>I descended the stairs slowly, my heart was pounding so hard it was a wonder it hadn't broken through my ribcage. I knew who I would be facing, and I felt sick inside, remembering our last meeting and the heart breaking way it had ended. To say I was frightened was an understatement. I felt as if I was taking that last walk to the gallows. How could I have let this happen again? Why did I have to come back here? Couldn't I have gone elsewhere? But even with these feelings of raging self-doubt, I also knew that if being with Paul meant that I had to be here, why would I want to be anywhere else?<p>

No, I couldn't do that to Paul. It was time; this needed to be done. I swallowed hard made my way slowly down to the lower level of the house. I had to face my fears head on. As I tried to control my breathing and trembling fingers, I vaguely wondered if Charlie would shoot him if I asked. It's not as if it would kill him, right?

As my feet hit the bottom step, I reluctantly looked towards the door to where he stood. He had grown yet again, he was taller, broader. He looked… older. His dark hair was longer than it should have been, because it was shaggy, sticking up here and there, like he needed a haircut. He stood in the doorway wearing only a pair of cut offs and bare feet.

As I looked into his face, I realized that while he was still beautiful, he still had that baby face look about him. I watched as the emotions flickered across his face, from anger to sadness, as he looked back at me. I swallowed once again, squared my shoulders and lifted my chin defiantly, determined to show him that I wasn't afraid.

I couldn't help but admit that it was good to see him again. I fought to hold back the tears, to hold back the urge to jump into his arms, to bury my head into his neck, to cry and tell him how much I missed him. But he just stood there, without a word, staring at me.

"Bella," he finally said after a few minutes.

"Jacob," I replied stiffly. His weight shifted as if he planned to move towards me, but Paul jumped in front of me and let out a growl that shook the windows in the house.

"Paul, it's okay," I murmured, rubbing his back to calm him.

"Paul, stand down," Jake ordered, his voice deep with authority.

"No! She is mine!" Paul growled and I could see the physical toll it was taking on his body as it tried to defy an alpha order. I knew I had to stop this. I couldn't let them fight, especially over me. From what I knew about the pack, Jake would easily take Paul down. I knew that Paul was strong and ruthless, but Jake was the Alpha. He had to be strong to hold that title and I didn't want to see Paul get hurt.

"Paul, baby, please don't do this. It's okay. I need to do this. I need to talk to Jake?" I cooed softly, still rubbing his back. He turned to look at me, his eyes softening, as he nodded slowly, wrapping his arms around my waist. He held me for a moment, until both of us were able to stop trembling, before he turned and escorted me into the living room. We sat down on the sofa, as Paul pulled me close to him.

Jake followed us and took the seat next to me, glaring as Paul growled at him again. "Paul, I'm not going to harm her. Hell, I've known her all our lives!"

"I'm not fucking leaving her alone with you, Jake. You forget; I've seen inside your head. I know how you feel about her. I've seen how angry you have been because of her, so forget it. I'm not going anywhere," he snarled. Jake's eyes narrowed, and he bared his teeth, his own chest rumbling threateningly, but the hate I saw in Paul's eyes frightened me.

As I looked between both my wolf and my oldest friend, I realized that this wasn't going to get us anywhere. I knew if this silly macho posturing continued, not only would we be here all day, but eventually one of them would snap and the whole thing would end badly.

"Paul." I tried to interrupt them, but he didn't acknowledge me in the least. "Paul," I finally snapped, determined to get his attention. The frustration in my voice must have made an impression, because his eyes slowly left Jake's and found their way to mine. I watched as the rage faded from his eyes and was replaced with love and devotion. I smiled at him, pleased that he was finally listening to me and reached up to gently stroke his cheeks. "Its okay, Paul. You don't have to leave the house, but would you please give us just a few minutes to talk? Please?" I pleaded, hoping that he would understand.

"Bella," he sighed, his eyes defeated, obviously not wanting to leave me alone with Jake.

"Please, Paul, just for a few minutes," I begged.

He took a deep breath, carefully studying my expression, before letting it out and nodding reluctantly. "Okay, but just for a few minutes. I won't be far," he said, his gaze fixed pointedly at Jake.

"Thank you," I replied, as he got up. He leaned down and kissed me softly on the lips. I knew he did it only to get a reaction from Jake and it worked; I could hear the Alpha's jealous snarls loud and clear.

Paul smiled against my mouth before pulling away. I shook my head, thinking how childish they were both being. Paul gave me a wink before turning and heading toward the kitchen, looking proud of himself.

I turned to Jake, but he was watching Paul, as he left the room, his eyes full of hate. But then he looked at me, his eyes softening. "How have you been, Bells? Charlie says you've been away at school," he asked.

"Yes, I have, and I've been good. Well, good as to be expected being so far away from Charlie and my friends," I explained.

He smiled. "Charlie wouldn't tell me where you were. I tried to get him to, but he wouldn't. I would have come for you if I had known… you know that right, Bells?" he said.

I was stunned. I had told myself that he'd been happy when I left, but now he tells me he wanted to come to get me? Even though our relationship had ended badly, I knew down deep inside that he would come searching for me, which was why I hadn't wanted Charlie to tell anyone where I was. I hadn't wanted Jake to find me; things had changed between us. He had hurt me deeply. He had promised that things wouldn't change between us if we tried a relationship, only to have things end with him screaming he never wanted to be friends with me again.

"Jake, that's why I asked Charlie not to tell anyone, I didn't want anyone to come looking for me," I said gently.

He lowered his head and fiddled with his fingers. "Bells, I know I was wrong for the way I acted back then, but I was so young. I know it's only been two years, but I've grown up... A lot of things have changed since then, honey," he replied. He sighed, and then shook his head. "I'm still so much in love with you, Bella."

I began to shake my head before the words were even out of his mouth. I did not want to hear this again! I heard Paul growling from somewhere in the house, and it made my heart clench. The last thing I wanted was hurt him, too! "Jake, stop, please! Don't do this! Not now, not ever! I'm with Paul now; he imprinted on me." I don't know why I felt like I needed to explain it to Jake, especially since I knew Sam had already told him, but I worried he would never understand how I felt if I didn't say it out loud.

"Bells, that don't matter! He can fight that. I know he can. Besides, he hates you. He used to call you the leech lover! He would see in my head when I thought of you and was disgusted by you. He constantly degraded how we felt for one another," he cried, his eyes wide and pleading.

I stared at him, completely confused. While I was surprised that Paul had held such animosity towards me, I also couldn't believe that Jake still believed that I had reciprocated his romantic feelings. He still couldn't admit that there hadn't been anything between us but friendship, at least for me. I knew then that Jake and I would never be my friend as long as he kept thinking that we could have been lovers. The growling from the other room grew louder.

I lowered my head, sighing. "Be quiet, Paul," I muttered under my breath, knowing he could hear me.

I stared at Jake, trying to get control of my feelings. I was getting irritated. With Paul in the other room snarling and Jake in here revealing his love for me, the feeling was growing by the minute... I jumped to my feet and began pacing across the living room. The movement helped relieve some of my pent up tension, and after a few times around the room, I was able to stop and meet Jake's eyes.

"Look, Jacob, I'm sorry that you still think that we have something together. I didn't tell anyone where I was because I didn't want to be found. Yes, you hurt me that day. That was one of the reasons I left, but Jake, there was nothing between us then and there is nothing between us now. There will never be anything between us. _Ever_. I'm sorry if that hurts you, but you don't seem to care how I feel about it. You just assume that because you want us to be together that we will be, but it doesn't work that way. I'm with Paul. I love him and he loves me. I'm his imprint. We will be together for life, Jacob. I'm sorry, but it is what it is, and you must understand this and move on. I'm sure that once you accept it and move on, you will find your own imprint. Please, let me and Paul be happy together." I couldn't bear to see that pain in his eyes again, so the only thing I wanted to do was leave him there and go find Paul.

To my surprise, Jake jumped up and grabbed my arm, swinging me around to look into my eyes. "We were meant to be together, Bells. I don't care what I have to do to make you mine again, but I will do it," he snapped, his voice dangerously low.

I sucked in a deep breath, afraid of what he would do to Paul. I yanked away from him as my anger took over. If looks could kill, I'm sure he would have been a smoldering spot on the floor. "I think it's time for you to leave, Jacob. I don't love you. Leave Paul and me alone!" I ordered.

He smirked at me before turning and walking to the door. "I'll be seeing you soon, Bells. Whether you want to believe it or not, you love me. It's inevitable for us to be together," he declared, his eyes still fixated on mine.

Paul stood there silently, holding the door open for his alpha. I could see the fury in his eyes, as he glared at Jake. He was shaking and I could tell he wanted to tear Jake apart, but held his form for my sake.

Laughing arrogantly, Jake left the house. Paul slammed the door behind him, a fierce rumbling rolling from his chest. He was clearly agitated with Jake, and with good reason.

Jake was acting like a child. He still couldn't see that there wasn't anything between the two of us. I didn't think we could even be friends now, which made me sad, but was unavoidable given the way he was acting. I could also see that he was going to cause me and Paul more trouble; trouble we didn't need. I found myself wishing he would just grow up and become the man I knew he could be, but I couldn't see that happening anytime soon and that made me nervous.

Paul walked over to me and buried his face in my hair, breathing deeply. His shaking slowed, as he held me tight in his arms. When I thought he was calm enough, I pulled away and looked into his eyes. I stroked his cheek with my open palm. "I'm sorry Paul, for the way this turned out. I thought I could get him to realize that his love for me was nothing but a school boy's crush. I hoped he would see how much I loved you and just leave it alone, but it didn't turn out the way I hoped it would," I explained sadly.

"Why are you sorry? You didn't do anything. This is all Jake. He is obsessed with you and the sooner he gets over this, the better off he will be," he retorted, pulling me tightly against him again.

I relaxed into his embrace, but couldn't help but ask, "Leech lover? Really, Paul?"

He chuckled. "That was a long time ago, before I imprinted on you. Jake only brought it up to use against me. He hoped it would piss you off and you would leave me, giving him room to make his move," he grumbled, but he still looked down at me nervously, as if he were actually worried that Jake's trick had worked. I grinned up at him, determined to prove that I had already forgiven him... Relieved, he leaned down and kissed me softly, passionately, until our kiss ended with his forehead resting against mine.

"You need to change. We're supposed to be at Sam's soon," he finally whispered.

I nodded slowly. "Would you care to join me in a shower first?" I asked teasingly, running a gentle finger down the curves of his abs.

He gave me a flirtatious smirk. "As you wish, my lady," he growled playfully. I squealed as he picked me up, flipping me over his shoulders and carrying me up the stairs to the bathroom.

I took off my robe and hung it on the hook on the back of the door. Paul turned on the shower and regulated the heat of the water. He turned and grabbed me just as I began to pull my tee-shirt over my head.

"No, let me do that," he murmured softly, tugging on the hem of the shirt and pulling it over my head. He dropped it, forgotten on the floor, as I stood in front of him naked. He smiled, a pleased rumble roiling from his chest, as he pulled me to him, kissing me long and hard.

"I'll never tire of seeing your beautiful body, babe," he groaned, pulling off his pajama bottoms.

He didn't waste any time, yanking me urgently into the shower with him until both of us were standing under the falling water. His hands roamed over my skin and into my hair. He grabbed the shampoo and poured some into his large hands before massaging it into my hair. I moaned, lost in the feeling of his strong fingers against my scalp. He gently tilted my head backwards to rinse out the soap before placing gentle kisses down the slope of my neck.

Smiling up at him, I reached down for the sponge and filled it with his body wash so I could clean his body, running the cloth over the hardened muscles of his chest. I stood up on my tip-toes so I could give him a sweet little peck and a saucy grin. He watched me with hooded eyes, as I lowered myself to my knees and soaped the stiff muscle between his legs.

He moaned as I softly manipulated the sponge over him, as I massaged his heavy sac with my other hand. Dropping the sponge and rinsing him off, I reached in and softly licked the mushroom shaped tip, tasting the pre-cum that had bubbled from the slit at the end. Licking my lips and wrapping them around the head, I swirled my tongue around his girth. His hips bucked, and I felt him spasm inside my mouth.

"Oh God, babe, that's amazing," he groaned. I slid him further into my mouth, trying to take in as much of him as I could. He buried his fingers into my hair, gently tugging my head up and down his shaft, but was careful not to push himself too deep into my throat. I moaned as his head hit the back of my throat, sending vibrations racing down his cock. "Fuck!" He growled, as I swallowed rapidly, as he spilled white hot liquid into my mouth.

He reached down and yanked me up to his lips, kissing me hard. "Damn baby, that was the best I've ever felt," he said, pressing me against the cool tile wall. I wrapped my legs around his waist, desperate to find his mouth again. He slipped his tongue against mine, moaning as he slipped between my slick wet folds, filling me completely. I couldn't keep quiet as he began to move in and out of me, but as he picked up speed I sunk my teeth into his shoulder, pouring out my cries of pleasure into his skin.

"God babe, I love you so much," he grunted as his hips slammed into me over and over.

"Oh Paul…I love you too," I moaned, digging my heels into his back side, trying to get him as far inside me as I could.

"Fuck!" he grunted, and I felt him pulse inside me, as I fell over the edge, clenching desperately around him. Sighing softly, he slowed his movements while we rode out the aftershocks.

He softly kissed me again, and then rested our foreheads together, as we tried to slow our breathing. He gently lowered me to my feet so we could finish washing one another, before stepping out of the shower. He wrapped a towel around me and kissed me on the forehead and then covering himself with another one.

We went into the bedroom to dress. Paul was pulling on his cut-offs when his cell phone rang.

"We're on our way, Sam." He hung up and slipped the device into his jean shorts. "You ready, babe?"

I nodded pulling my hair into a high ponytail and took one last look into the mirror to make sure I looked okay; I was nervous about officially meeting the pack as Paul's imprint. What if they didn't like me? What if they believed Jacob was right about the imprint? What if they refused to accept us as a couple?

I grabbed my bag as Paul hooked his arm around my waist and led me out the door to the truck. He had already unhooked the trailer and explained that we would finish unloading when we get back. Trying to give him a brave smile, I quickly agreed as I settled in for the brief ride to Sam's house.

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><p>Well there you go there first greet and meet what did you think...let me know...thanks everyone...huggs<p> 


	11. Chapter 11

**Destiny**

A/N: Special thanks to Goldengirl2707 for her excellent job as a beta…you rock girl.

A/N: I own nothing Twilight. That honor belongs to the one and only Stephanie Meyers.

**Chapter 11**

**Lunch with the Pack.**

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><p>We pulled up in front of a pretty little house. It had blue siding and windows with flower boxes. The front porch held a swing, and a railing that ran around the entire porch. It looked like a nice place and was decorated accordingly, probably by Sam's girlfriend.<p>

I also noticed two guys sitting out on the steps and I recognized them immediately.

Paul turned off the ignition and ran around the truck, opening my door and helping me out. He closed the door as the two guys ran to me. "Bella!" Quil yelled as they ran over, and I couldn't help but laugh as each of them took a turn picking me up and swinging me around. "Welcome home, Bells," Embry said as Paul growled.

"Put her down, you idiots, and the next time you break into my house when I'm not home, I'll string you both up by your balls in the nearest tree," Paul snapped. Embry cringed and back away, while Quil shuddered and reached down to cup himself, as if he needed reassurance it hadn't yet happened… I chuckled and swatted him playfully on the chest, knowing Paul would never do something like that to them, but it was obvious that _they_ didn't know that. "Come on, babe," he continued, throwing his arm around my shoulders and escorting me into Sam's house.

When we entered, Sam had his arms wrapped around a beautiful Native American woman, peppering her cheeks with kisses. I immediately noticed the scars that ran the length of her face and neck. I couldn't help but cringe, and hastily looked away, not wanting her to notice my reaction. I made a mental note to ask Paul what happened to her later.

Glancing towards the living-room, I saw another couple cuddling on the sofa. The girl was just as beautiful as Sam's girlfriend, but she was much smaller, and the guy she was with had to be one of the pack. He was as tall as Sam and Paul, built with the same muscles, broad body, and good looks that all the wolves had. I quickly ran through all the names Paul had mentioned during the drive over; Embry and Quil were outside, Sam was in the kitchen and Jacob wasn't here… so this had to be Jared!

"Paul!" Jared cried, jumping up and coming over to bump fists with Paul. "I hear congratulations are in order, huh?" he asked, giving us a smug smirk.

Paul rolled his eyes then nodded. "Yeah man. Jared, this is Bella; Bella meet Jared," Paul gave the introductions as Jared looked over to me and gingerly shook my hand. His strength was obvious, even through such a gentle touch. I wondered if I would ever get used to it!

"It's nice to meet you Bella. This is my imprint, Kim," he replied, wrapping an arm around her waist and tugging her close to him.

"Hi, Bella. Welcome to the pack! It's nice to finally meet a new imprint," she said, her smile wide and her voice friendly.

"Thanks, it's nice to meet you both," I told them shyly.

"Come on Bella! Come meet Emily; she's Sam's imprint. I just know we'll all get along swimmingly," she announced, taking my hand and leading me to the woman I saw when we had first entered the house. I looked over my shoulder at Paul, feeling a little panicked, but he only smiled and gave me a wink in reassurance.

Emily's smile grew the closer that Kim dragged me until she was grinning from ear to ear. "Bella, welcome to our home. This is Emily, my imprint. Em, this is Bella, Paul's imprint," Sam explained…

"Oh, Bella, it so nice to finally meet you. Sam told me this morning that Paul had imprinted and I couldn't be happier for the both of you. Welcome to the pack, sweetheart. I'm looking forward to all of us being the best of friends," she gushed as Sam chuckled and left to join up with the guys.

"Let's go into the kitchen; we can talk while I make lunch for the bottomless pits over there," she laughed, pointing in the general direction of the men now filling up her living-room. I followed her and Kim into the kitchen, looking once again towards Paul and the guys as they joked and laughed. As if he could feel my eyes on him, Paul turned and gave me another smile.

Emily went to the stove and was stirring what looked to be soup, while Kim started making sandwiches. I felt so uncomfortable just standing there while they were working, so I asked if I could do anything to help.

"Sure, sure. Why don't you start making the salad; it's all out over there on the counter." I walked over and began to cut up the lettuce, tomatoes and other vegetables.

"So, I hear your Charlie's daughter," Emily said as we all worked together fixing lunch.

"Yeah, he doesn't know I'm home yet. I thought I would surprise him," I replied.

"Oh…he will be so shocked and happy to know that you've come home. He is always talking about you. I know how much he missed you while you were away at school." She paused in her stirring, looking thoughtful. "Hey, listen, we're having a bonfire tonight on the beach. Charlie and Sue will be there, so why don't you and Paul join us? You can surprise Charlie then. He'll be over the moon," she said excitedly.

I nodded slowly, mulling over the idea in my head. That would be as good of a time as any, right? "Yeah, that would actually be perfect," I answered finally.

"Good! And everything's already finished for it, too. Kim and I have been working all morning getting ready, so all that needs to be done is for the guys to carry it down to the beach when the time comes," Emily continued. "I'm sure Sam will tell Paul about it. All the pack members will be there."

I took a deep breath. _All _the pack? Did that mean Jake would be there?

My fear must have shown on my face, because Emily dropped her stirring spoon and walked over to me. "Did I say something wrong?" She asked quietly. I shook my head and gave her a half smile. "Oh… you're worried about Jake being there." Her matter of fact tone told me that Sam must have explained my history with him.

"Well sort of. I mean… he came by Paul's house this morning and things didn't go very well," I explained.

"Bella, please don't let Jake get to you. He is…well… he is a bit strained. He is the alpha now and he has a lot going on in his head. I'm sure he will come around soon," she reassured me.

I nodded like I agreed but I didn't hold out much hope. I knew Jake better than anyone. I knew what he was capable of when he wanted something. He would fight tooth and nail, and he hadn't been discreet about wanting me. Imprint or not, we were in for one hell of a ride. I was worried about the outcome, but I wasn't going to run away this time.

"So Bella… what were you studying at that school of yours?" Kim's voice finally broke the silence…

I blinked at her, and it took me a moment to respond. I was surprised by the change in subject, but grateful to move on to lighter conversation. "Oh… I was a literature major before I decided I wanted to teach. I've recently just acquired a teaching position at the school here at the reservation school." I told them.

They both turned to look at me, the excitement evident on their faces. "That's fabulous, Bella! Congratulations! So you'll start in the fall then, right?" Kim asked.

"Yes, I start in the fall and I'm really looking forward to it," I replied, happy to talk about my future job…

"That is so great. You know I work there too," Kim said.

I looked up from my chopping to stare at her. Why hadn't Paul mentioned that? "No… I didn't know that. What do you teach?" I asked.

"I teach history. Well, more of our history than anything, but I do touch a lot on American history as well," she said. "If you need anything just let me know. I know how hard it is to be the new kid in school, so to speak."

"Thanks Kim, that's very nice of you," I said, feeling relieved that I would know someone else in the building.

"Hey, us wolf girls have to stick together, huh, Em?" she asked, giggling,

"That's right, Kim. If we don't those guys, would walk right over us," Emily joked with a snicker of her own.

I smiled and nodded. I knew right then and there that I would be friends with these women, Kim and Emily were great. They had made me feel right at home the moment I met them. I was proud to be part of the pack. My only fear was Jacob and what he had in store for Paul and me.

After lunch was over and the dishes were done, we joined our mates. The men smiled as we entered the room, and each of the imprinted males grabbed their counter parts as Quil and Embry sat and made fun of us.

After we settled into our seats, the guys continued their conversation and I quickly realized that they were talking about what to do about Jake. As I listened, I found out that he and Leah hung out a lot, commiserating and complaining to one another about the ones that got away. This was always a bad sign. The way the guys were talking, it sounded like Leah and Jake was a couple. Confused, I turned to Paul for an explanation.

"What is it, babe?" he asked.

"Well, the way you all are talking, it sounds as if Jake and Leah are a couple. If that is true, could he have imprinted on her?" I asked, hoping that it was possible.

The wolves looked at one another. "Bella, we thought the same thing and brought it up to them one time, but it only upset them more. They both despise imprinting. They freaked out on all of us for even suggesting it. After such bad experiences with imprinting, they feel that it's destroyed their lives, and that it's taken away their ability to chose who they want to be with. We tried to tell them that even if the ancestors chose for them they are still soul mates, the other half of themselves, that when they are together, it makes a whole. But they didn't want to hear any of it," Emily clarified, sounding distressed.

"So it is possible that they are imprinted? They could just be blocking it and they won't even realize it because they're together all the time?" I knew it sounded desperate on my part, but I couldn't help but wish for another one to distract Jake from his mission to separate me and Paul.

"Yes," Kim replied, shaking her head sorrowfully. "And as long as they think that way, they make everyone's life miserable."

I looked at Paul sadly. He leaned over and kissed my forehead, knowing what we had to face in the future.

As if they had known we were talking about them, Jake and Leah took that moment to waltz in the door. Jake's posture oozed aggression, and Leah's eyes were dark and sullen. "Well, well, well, look at the happy little families," Jake snarled, his tone sarcastic.

"Don't start Jake," Sam snapped, his eyebrows raised in warning. Jake snickered and ignored him, focusing his gaze on me and Paul.

Watching his cocky body language, I wondered how he could be Alpha when he didn't earn the respect of his peers. I kind of felt responsible for the way he acted now, but then again, I shouldn't have to be sorry for choosing myself who I want to be with. His anger was his problem and he really did need to figure this out for himself. He was complaining about choosing his own mate, but obviously wasn't' interested in giving me the same respect.

Jake and Leah chuckled as she leaned against Jake's chest, and he casually wrapped his arms around her waist. I could see how they completed one another. If I could see they were meant to be together, why couldn't they?

"So tell me Bells, does Charlie know you're home?" he asked innocently, but the shadows in his eyes gave away his true intentions. I looked over at him.

I gave him a shrug, determined to show him that I wasn't interested in his games. "No… I'm going to surprise him at the bonfire tonight," I replied. Paul tightened his grip on me, letting me feel he was there for me.

"Oh, well, won't he be surprised," Leah said smugly. "Oh, by the way, you're not planning on staying at the house, are you? Because, I'm not giving up or sharing my bedroom with you, _leech lover_." Paul growled, as Jacob let out a roar of a laugh.

"Oh no, babe, didn't you hear? Paul and Bella are imprints now," Jake gushed, and he sounded insincere and fake. I watched as Leah rubbed Jake's arm, consoling him as they played out their little game.

"Oh, that's right. You told me that earlier. Hmm… I wonder how long it will take her to find out that Paul feels the same way we do about imprinting," she huffed.

Paul's growl grew louder, and the sound was echoed by Jared and Sam.

"Stop it, you guys. If you want to be miserable, do it somewhere else. We don't need to hear that load of crap in here," Emily ordered, lifting her chin at them defiantly.

"Oh come on Emily. We're just having a little fun," Jake whined.

"It's not funny to us, Jacob Black. You're supposed to be Alpha; why don't you act like it instead of being a spoilt little brat when he doesn't get his way!"

Jake snarled angrily, baring his teeth at her.

Sam stood up and squared his shoulders, obviously daring his Alpha to threaten his mate again. Paul and Jared moved to stand beside him, all three wolves turned to face him head on. I began to tremble in fear. Dear God, what the hell was going on with him? This was not the same Jake I knew before.

Yes, he had been selfish all those years ago, but I had thought it was because I couldn't love him the way he wanted me to, but this… this was something more. How could he be the Alpha when the other wolves wanted nothing more than to rip his head off his shoulders?

Gritting my teeth and taking a deep breath, I stood up in front of the three angry men. "Jake, what the hell? Why are you acting like this? You were someone I respected two years ago. Now you're out of control. These are you brothers, and you're supposed to be their Alpha. How can you act so callously towards them? You should be there for them, help them when they are in need. I don't understand any of this! What happened to you?"

"Nothing happened to me, Bells. I'm the same as I've always been. You've made your choice. You're with pussy boy there, or that's what you've turned him into anyway," he spat back as Leah chuckled. Paul growled again, but I reached around to pat him reassuringly. "They don't need my help in anything now that they have their imprints, so what do I care what happens to them? As far as brothers," he smirked. "What kind of brother do you know that will take away another man's girl?"

"Jake, I wasn't yours to begin with! How can Paul take me away from you when you never had me?" I snapped. He stared at me incredulously, his face growing redder by the minute. Finally, he snorted and shook his head in disbelief before grabbing Leah and forcefully shoving her out the door, slamming it so hard the whole house shook. I lowered my head, my shoulders sagging in relief as the tears slipped down my face. I hated hurting Jacob, but he was way out of line. I couldn't let him get away with the way he was treating his brothers.

I felt Paul's arms wrap around my waist, and he pulled me into his embrace, kissing the side of my head. "I'm sorry baby," he said. I turned and buried my face into his chest as he stroked my hair to console me.

We spent the next few hours around Sam and Emily's, talking and trying to have a good time. We were determined not to let Leah and Jake ruin the evening for us.

When it was time to head to the beach, the guys carried the food and coolers down to the sand. Sam and Paul started the fire as Emily, Kim and I set up the table of food. Once everything was in place, the girls and I sat and talked while the guys hung out around the fire. Everyone was finally relaxed and enjoying themselves when we heard the voice of one Leah Clearwater. She came up from behind us, whistling obnoxiously. Emily sighed and started rubbing her forehead.

"Hey, ladies," she greeted us breezily as she marched passed us towards the water. I watched her go, hoping that she wasn't planning to stay, when she stopped and turned back to look at us, her face contemplative. "Oh, by the way Bella, I wanted to thank you," she said sincerely.

"For what?" I asked slowly, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"For the angry sex I got from Jake this afternoon," she replied with a girlish giggle.

I sighed, knowing it was going to start again.

"Leah! Really, there's no need to be so crass," Emily admonished her.

"Oh lighten up, Emily. I'm just thanking Bella for pissing off Jake," she snapped before turning back to me and continuing. "It was fabulous, Bella, Mmm, he got so deep inside me, I thought I was going to pass out! It was the best sex I've gotten from him in a long time. Well, you know, we fuck all the time, but wow… do me a favor and piss him off regularly, okay? I want more of angry Jake! That shit was awesome!" she said with a laugh.

Hearing the conversation, Paul ran up to me and snarled at Leah. "What the fuck, Leah! No one wants to hear about you sick fucking sex life! Take that shit elsewhere and leave Bella alone!" he yelled.

"I was just thanking her, Paul! Geez, lighten up!" With a final laugh and a toss of her dark hair, she walked on, her shoulders still shaking in amusement. I frowned until I lost sight of her retreating figure in the glare of sun.

"Are you alright?" he asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, Paul. Just ignore her. She just wants some attention, so the more we ignore her, the better off we will be. Maybe then she'll stop harassing us," I replied softly. He nodded in agreement, and pulled me into his arms.

"Bella, is that you, honey?" I heard someone call out from behind me.

I looked up at Paul, feeling a little confused, before turning around. With everything that had been going on, I was a little afraid to find out who else was going to be here. But Paul was smiling, so I knew it must be someone I could be excited to see.

"Billy!" I screamed and ran to him, throwing myself into his lap and hugging his neck. "Oh Billy, it's so good to see you again!" Even though Billy was Jake's dad, he had been like a second father to me.

"It's good to see you too, honey. Charlie didn't tell me you were back and I just saw him this morning! He never said a word!" he wagged a finger at me and I giggled.

"He doesn't know yet. I just got here early this morning and I haven't seen him. I planned on surprising him here tonight," I whispered, looking around quickly, hoping that my dad wasn't nearby.

"Well, I'm sure he'll be surprised. You're all he ever talks about, honey. Have you seen Jake?" he asked excitedly. My good mood quickly disappeared. Billy must have noticed because he studied my face worriedly. "What's wrong?"

"Billy…I imprinted on Bella. I ran into while I was out of town on a job. I brought her back with me," Paul explained, coming up beside me.

"Oh… I see," Billy said slowly, his eyes wary. "Well, I guess it was meant to be. I'm happy for both of you. I know you'll be happy together. Has Jake been giving you both trouble over all this?"

I looked up at Paul for a moment before answering. I was determined to not lower myself to Jake's level by talking badly about him behind his back. "Well…he hasn't been too welcoming. Let's just keep it at that."

"Yeah, I figured as much. Well, if I can help let me know. I know he's been a little off his game lately," Billy replied, but we all knew it was a weak excuse.

Off his game? He was out of _control_. As if he could sense my distress, Paul sat down in the soft sand and pulled me on his lap, cuddling up to me.

"Thanks, Billy. I appreciate it," I called out to him as he rolled away.

He turned back and gave us a sad smile before replying, "Charlie's coming."

I looked over Paul's shoulder and sure enough, Charlie was walking hand in hand with Sue Clearwater. Her son Seth was tagging along behind them. I remembered Seth from the few times he hung out with Jake and watching him work on cars.

Paul stood up and pushed me behind him just as Charlie walked up to us. "Hey, Paul. I didn't know you were back. Everything go alright on your trip?" he asked.

"Yes, sir! Actually, Chief, I ran into someone you might remember. Want to say hello?" Paul replied, a grin spreading across his handsome face. Charlie looked bewildered. I could hear his confusion as he sputtered, trying to find the right words. Paul laughed and quickly stepped to the side, revealing that I had been standing behind him.

"Hi dad," I said softly as Charlie's eyes grew wide and wet with tears.

"Bells…! Bella, you're here! You're home!" he yelled, as I smiled from ear to ear and fell into his arms. I couldn't tell if he was laughing or crying, but he held me so tight it was almost hard to breathe, like he was worried I would simply run away again. My name was a mantra, and he repeated it over and over, as though willing me to never disappear again.


	12. Chapter 12

**Destiny**

A/N: Special thanks to Goldengirl2707 for her excellent job as a beta…you rock girl.

A/N: I own nothing Twilight. That honor belongs to the one and only Stephanie Meyers.

**Chapter 12**

**Losing The Power.**

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><p>"Bells…! Bella, you're here! You're home!" he yelled, as I smiled from ear to ear and fell into his arms. I couldn't tell if he was laughing or crying, but he held me so tight it was almost hard to breathe, like he was worried I would simply run away again. My name was a mantra, and he repeated it over and over, as though willing me to never disappear again.<p>

When he finally pulled away, he looked into my eyes and asked, "How long are you here for?"

"Dad…I'm here to stay. I got a position at the reservation school here in La Push," I explained.

"That's great, Bells. Look, you can share a room with Leah until we can clear out another room for you. How does that sound?" he said as he looked over at Sue for confirmation, which was smiling and nodding her head in approval.

"Dad…" I started, but Paul interrupted.

"Chief… that won't be necessary. Bella is going to be staying with me." My dad looked back and forth between us, his face slowly turning a bright shade of red before it became a light shade of purple.

"What do you mean she'll be staying with you! I don't think so, son. You're the biggest player on the reservation, and if you think for one minute that I'm letting my little girl get hurt by a _boy_ like you, you've got another thing coming!" Charlie spat.

"Dad! Stop! What are you doing?" I asked, taking a deep breath to try and control my anger. I felt like Charlie had done this since I first moved here to attend high school. Always telling me who to talk to, who he thought I should be with. I knew that he loved and worried about me, but this was taking it too far.

"I'm trying to save you from heartbreak, Bells. I can't let this happen; I won't let this happen," he swore.

"Dad, I'm twenty-one years old! I love you and I appreciate you looking out for me, but I will choose where and with whom I live, and I chose to live with Paul. I'm sorry, but you can't keep doing this. I have to make my own decisions, dad. If they are mistakes, then I will learn from them, but I am going to be staying with Paul," I said, crossing my arms over my chest defiantly, but relaxed as the warm arms of Paul wrapped around my waist and pulled me close to him.

Charlie looked at the two of us before he spoke again. "Bells, you don't know him like I do. You don't know what he's done, or how he treats the women he's been with. I can't allow you to go through that. Not with him. Not ever," he demanded.

"You tell her Charlie; she won't listen to me," Jake said from behind us. I ignored Jake and continued my conversation with my father, determined to prove to him that I was no longer a child.

"You have nothing to say about it, Dad. I'm sorry, but that just how it's going to be," I explained firmly, leaving no room for argument. I heard Jake and Leah snickering, but Paul squeezed me gently, letting me know he was there for me.

I could see Charlie was upset with me. Sue was rubbing his arm, trying to calm him down, whispering to him that this wasn't the place or time to be doing this. I agreed with her wholeheartedly, and appreciated her efforts, but it didn't seem to be working. My father apparently still felt the need to carry on a conversation that should have been done in private.

"Bells, what about Jacob? I thought… I mean… I'd hoped the two of you would… you know, maybe get together. I know you've had your differences, but couldn't you try to work them out? He's more suited to you than Paul is, believe me. Paul is not your type," he exclaimed, sounding exasperated. I could feel Paul start to tremble, shivering with barely contained rage.

I couldn't believe Charlie would do this. He had the audacity to put Paul down to his face and in front of everyone. I was steaming. I stood there silently, softly rubbing Paul's arm, trying to calm him down while my father continued to spit out such hurtful words, while Jake and Leah goaded Charlie with more lies. I don't know how Paul stood it as long as he did. If I had been a wolf, I would have phased and torn into Charlie and Jake a long time ago.

"Paul, calm down please," I urged, as he buried his head into my hair and breathed deeply. I stroked his shoulders soothingly until he pulled away and looked me in the eyes.

"I love you Bella, but I've got to run this off. I'll be back in a few," he promised, giving me a peck on the lips. He scowled at Charlie and Jake before running towards the woods.

I turned to Jake and gave him such a hateful glare that I actually hoped it would turn him into a smoldering spot in the sand.

And then I turned to Charlie, and decided that enough was enough, and it was time I took off the kid gloves…

"You want to do this _now_?_ Here?_ In front of everyone? Fine! Let's go!" I announced, waving my hands at Charlie and Jake. I could see the worry in Jake's eyes just before I turned to Charlie and opened my mouth again, but Jake spoke up first.

"Bells, maybe you're right; maybe you shouldn't do this right now," he interjected, and it was obvious that he was concerned about what I might say.

"Oh, no, Jacob! Between you and Dad, you seem to think you know what's best for me, but I didn't see either one of you in the last two years. I do believe that I managed to take care of myself," I spat. "And look, I'm still in one piece! To tell you the truth, I think I did a better job than the two of you ever did!"

I turned my gaze on Charlie, giving him a sad shake of my head. "This is why I haven't been home before now! You keep pushing me to make your choices, live _your_ life, but I am not you!" I shouted. "I am my own person! _I_ chose who I will be with! _I_ chose where I will live! It seems you and mom think that I need to be babysat for the rest of my life, but news flash! I don't! I've lived two years _on my own_! I am not some child that needs her mommy and daddy to look out for her."

"I didn't come back for you!" I cried at Charlie, and he had enough grace to look embarrassed and ashamed. Before I could stop and congratulate myself, I turned to point an accusing finger at Jake. "And I sure as hell didn't come back for you!" By the time I'd finished, I was screaming. I bit my lip; I hadn't meant to get so loud, but I was secretly pleased to see Jake staring at the ground, looking hurt. But did I care? Hell no! I wasn't about to stand there and let my father and former best friend do this to me or Paul!

"How dare either of you presume to tell me who I can and can't be with. I know exactly who Paul is and I know who I am. I am a grown woman who happens to be very much in love. I am Paul's imprint, and he has marked me as his," I exclaimed, loud enough for everyone to hear. I didn't know if Charlie knew that the legends Billy had been telling over the years were true and right now I didn't give a damn.

I wanted to make the council members watching this ridiculous display know exactly what was going on. I had wanted the opportunity to see that someone needed to keep Jake in line and his outrageous behavior tonight have played right into my plan. He had no right treating me and Paul the way he had and the same went for Charlie. If he wanted to make this public then fine, it would be, but I was sure Jake didn't want the council to know the way he had been acting. Well, that was just too bad, because he and Charlie were the ones who started this and I was the one who going to end it.

I heard Jake growling, and I was sure it was because he didn't like the fact that Paul had already marked me.

"He did what!" he screamed. Before I could stop myself, I marched over to him and yanked the collar of my shirt down enough to show Jake Paul's mark. "He. Marked. Me. As. His. Own. I enunciated each word deliberately, determined to sound bored, just so he would finally realize just how stupid I thought this was. Jake looked down at my shoulder and roared, pushing Leah away from him so hard she was knocked off balance and hit the sand.

"I'll kill that son of a bitch!" he screeched.

"Jacob Ephraim Black! Stand down, now!" Billy yelled. Obediently, Jake snapped his mouth shut, but continued to stand there huffing and puffing as he looked over at his dad.

"She is mine, Dad. She's always been mine!" he cried.

"Jake! I said stand down," Billy demanded. "If your grandfather could see how you are acting now, he would put you in your place without a moment's hesitation. Not only are you disgracing our name, but our heritage, too. You are the Alpha and you are acting like a spoiled, hormonal teenage boy. You are supposed to be a man, so act like it!"

"If Paul has imprinted on Bella, then it's his right to mark her as his. You know the law! If you cannot abide it, then we will find a new Alpha that will," he declared, turning to look at Sam. Billy was chief of the tribe and he seemed determined to show everyone that he still held authority, especially to his own son.

"No!" Jake yelled, but his anger overwhelmed him, and he phased, taking off for the woods

Billy shook his head and looked over at Sam. "Sam, send a couple of wolves to watch Jake and make sure he doesn't go after Paul," he commanded.

"Sure thing, Billy. Jared, Embry; go," Sam ordered. "Report to me in an hour."

The thought of Jake hurting Paul frightened me. I turned to look at Charlie, who had the audacity to look upset. "Damn it, Charlie!" I huffed and turned on my heel, storming off towards Paul's house. I wanted as far away from Charlie and Jake as I could get.

"Bells, wait," Charlie called out, his tone sorrowful.

I didn't bother to stop. Instead, I shook my head and kept walking. I heard Billy start chastising Charlie for his actions, but I didn't want to stay long enough to hear what he had to say to him.

When I got back to the house, I went inside and collapsed on the sofa. I sighed sadly, unable to stop the tears that slid down my cheek. This was supposed to be my home, and for Jake and Charlie to treat me and Paul this way was heartless. I knew there would be some resistance with Jake, but I hadn't expected such animosity from Charlie. I was hurt that my own father had started all of this. Why couldn't he just have waited until we were alone? Why did he have to bring all this up in front of everyone, especially in front of Jake? He had to have known that it would make Jake go berserk. I knew Charlie loved Jake, but I didn't know he loved him more than me.

I wondered what would happen, not only with the council, but Paul as well. I was afraid for him. Jake could order him to do something crazy just to get revenge and that scared living daylights out of me.

I was so deep in thought that when a knock came to the door it made me jump. Clutching at my pounding heart, I walked over to the door, and I couldn't help but hope that it wasn't Charlie, or worse; Jake.

"Go away! I don't want to see anyone," I called.

"Bella, it's me Emily. Can I come in please?" she asked.

I barely got the door open before Emily pulled me into her arms. "I'm so sorry this all happened, Bella. The un-imprinted just don't understand. I'm sorry they put you in that sort of position," she said, her eyes concerned.

"Thanks, Emily," I replied softly. I leaned out of her embrace and turned to close the door before following her into the living room. I motioned for her to sit down, and she chose the couch cushion next to mine.

"The council chased everyone away after you left. They are having an emergency meeting. You got them thinking about Jake and whether or not he's doing a good job as Alpha. The rest of the guys took off hunting for Jake and Paul."

"Oh Emily, I didn't mean to cause so much trouble," I whined sadly. "When dad and Jake started with their disapproval, all I wanted was for them to shut their mouths. I wanted the council to see how unreasonable Jake was being. I didn't mean to cause such disturbance."

"Of course you didn't, sweetheart, but it's probably a good thing you did. It's hard telling how far Jake would have taken this if you hadn't. The council sees how Jake is acting now. They will do the right thing to fix this, or at least figure out what to do until Jake returns to his normal self. His good normal self," she said with a chuckle. "I don't even think Billy had a clue to how much his own son had changed," she commented.

"It's my fault," I said, looking down at my hands in my lap. Emily looked at me with a wrinkled brow, looking concerned. "If I just could have loved Jake the way he wanted…"

"Bella, this isn't your fault, even if you and Jake had stayed together. As soon as Jake had introduced you to the Pack, you would have met Paul and he would have imprinted on you. It was inevitable; this whole mess would just have happened anyway, only sooner. Besides, you don't love Jake the same way he loves you. That isn't a crime, honey and it definitely doesn't excuse Jake's behavior. You shouldn't be with someone out of guilt. It would have made you both miserable. I still think Jake and Leah are supposed to be together and once they figure that out, everything will work out the way it should. He'll see it, too. He'll be so overwhelmed that he won't know what to do. Mark my words, Bella; everything will come full circle," Emily assured me.

"I hope you're right, Emily, but right now I'm worried about Paul. He was so upset when he ran off. What if Jake finds him, orders Paul to hurt himself?" I asked wringing my hands as my stomach twisted in knots.

"Don't worry, Paul can handle himself. Besides, the whole pack is out there, and they won't let Jake hurt him," she replied.

"But what if he orders them all to stay out of the way?" I couldn't help but ask.

Emily sighed and shook her head, taking a moment to think before she answered. "I don't think Jake can order him to injure himself, especially when he has an imprint at home waiting for him. Jake can challenge him, but Paul is more experienced than Jake when it comes to fighting, so I doubt very much that he would do something like that," she explained.

But her reassurances didn't help. Feeling antsy, I got up and walked across the room, leaning against the window sill. I couldn't stop myself from looking up and down the street hoping for a sign of Paul.

"My Dad… I can't believe Charlie did that. Why couldn't he wait until we were alone before bringing up all that about me and Jake? _He_ started this; it's completely his fault," I declared.

I heard her giggle, and I turned to stare at her incredulously. "Emily, what's so funny?" I asked, trying to understand why she was laughing.

"Oh Bella, you missed it. After you left, Sue jumped all over poor Charlie. She yelled at him for causing such a ruckus. She said if he wanted to air dirty laundry in public, then she would make him feel right at home. She proceeded to go off on Charlie about the meaning of family and sticking by their side through anything. She dared him to say another word, or she would throw him out of her house! Given the fact that he sold the house in Forks and pissed his only daughter off, he would have to stay at the nearest motel!" I couldn't help but laugh, realizing that Charlie would deserve such a fate!

"You're kidding!"

"Bella, you know Charlie is going to feel sorry for started all this. He loves you. He may be a little selfish sometimes, but he only wants what's best for you. In his defense, he didn't know Paul had imprinted on you." My mouth fell open. _Charlie did know_. "Yes, Charlie knows what imprinting means. If he had known, he wouldn't have said what he did. And to his credit, Paul was the way Charlie described before he imprinted on you, but I'm sure you knew that. So don't be too upset with Charlie. Granted, he shouldn't have done it in public, but still…" Her words trailed off, but I understood her point.

"Yeah, I know, but he still did it in front of the whole pack and council. He shouldn't have done that," I insisted.

"True, but like I said, he will be sorry for it once all of this sinks into that hard head of his," she chuckled. Too tired to talk anymore, I agreed and left it at that.

Hours had past and still there was no sign of Paul or the pack. Emily stayed with me as we waited, and eventually Kim joined us. Apparently she hadn't heard from Jared either, and was beginning to worry. I made us some coffee so we could sit around the dining room table and talked. The more time that went by, the more worried I became. What could have happened to them? Where were they? Negative thoughts flew around and around in my head.

Just as I thought I couldn't take one more minute of waiting, the door finally flew open. Sam stood in the doorway, looking distraught.

Emily ran to him. "I'm okay, Emily," he assured her, before looking over to me. "Bella, I don't want to alarm you, ok? So just listen; Paul's alright, he is hurt though." Just then a line of men flowed inside, carrying a bleeding Paul between them.

"Oh my God! What happened to him?" I cried making my way to him. "Paul! Oh Paul, baby, what happened?" I crouched down next to him as they laid him gently on the couch.

"I'm alright, Bella," he croaked, trying to downplay his injuries, but it didn't fool me.

"You're alright? Look at you!" I proclaimed, unable to stop the tears from falling. His eyes were both black, and they were so swollen. Blood was seeping from his nose. His lip was busted, and there was blood trickling down his chin. Bruises were already forming on his arms I picked up his hands, and realized that both were bruised, his knuckles bleeding.

"You should have seen him a half an hour ago," Quil spat out. I gasped, looking towards Sam.

"Quil!" Sam snapped. Quil frowned and looked away. Sam turned to me. "Bella, you do know we heal fast, right?"

I nodded, looking down at Paul. "Tell me what happened," I pleaded.

"Jake. He caught up with Paul, and he just kept yelling," Sam began, but Paul quickly interrupted.

"No! This isn't something she needs to hear!" Paul roared.

"Paul, I want to know, damn it! Are you going to start acting like Jake and Charlie? Now, tell me what happened," I demanded. Paul sighed and rolled his eyes, but didn't argue anymore.

"Like I said, Jake caught up with Paul. He was mad as hell that Paul marked you. He started yelling about how he destroyed everything, and then punched Paul in the face. When Paul tried to get up, Jake ordered him to stay down on the ground so that he could have the upper hand while pummeling him. Thankfully, we got there fast enough to pull Jake off."

"He tried to order us to stay out of it, but it didn't work. He tried commanding us to do a lot of things, but none of it worked. I think that once he misused his powers, he lost them. He's no longer the Alpha," he explained.

"Does that make you the Alpha again, Sam?" I asked.

He shrugged. "Probably, but it has to be okayed by the council," he replied.

Glad the story was over; I turned my attention back to Paul. Emily came up behind me, carrying a bowl of warm water and a soft wash cloth and placed it in the floor next to me. I smiled, thanking her for it. I reached down and squeezed out the sponge before dabbing it around Paul's face to wash off the blood and mud.

"He'll be aright Bella. By tomorrow the bruising will be nothing but a memory," Sam assured me. "Come on everyone, let's leave them alone."

"We'll stop by tomorrow to check on you," Emily said, and then she followed Sam and the guys to the door.

"Thanks Emily. Thanks Kim," I said. "Sam!"

He stopped with one foot out the door, and turned back to look at me. "Sam, where is Jake?" I didn't want him showing up at our door.

"He's with his dad," Sam replied. "Don't worry Bella, he won't show up here. I'm headed there now, and if they tell me I'm alpha again, I'll order him to stay away,"

Grateful, I gave him a small smile. "Thank you, Sam,"

Once we were alone again, I turned my attention to Paul. I sighed, making a gentle tsk-ing sound.

"I'm aright babe," he whispered. And before I could stop him, he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me down towards him until he was able to hold me against his chest and stroke my hair. We were both emotionally exhausted, and after awhile, the silence gave way to sleep.

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><p>Thank you everyone for all your fantastic reviews, they do mean alot...<p>

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	13. Chapter 13

Please Read.

There is a rumor going around that FF will be pulling stories with more than a K rating. Let's hope it's just a rumor. If this should happen all of my stories are on …. Always Easy As Breathing, or TrickyRaven or JB&P. I will still be here on this site until this happens…thanks hugs Peggy


	14. Chapter 14

**Destiny**

** I wish to ask your forgiveness in posting this chapter. I am still waiting for my beta to send me a beta'ed chapter. As soon as she does, I will replace this with the beta version. My beta has been very busy and unable to work on my chapters, but I just couldn't make my devoted readers wait any longer on the next chapter…once again please forgive the mistakes on this chapter…thanks everyone…big hugs**

**Chapter 13**

**Changing Hands**

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><p>The next morning, I slowly opened my eyes to the bright sunny morning, blazing through the window. I took in a deep breath as the memory of last night seeped into my mind. I jerked my head up to find Paul still asleep, as we were still lying on the sofa. I maneuvered my way up until my head laid next to Paul's on the arm of the sofa and looked at his face in awe.<p>

Paul must have felt me move because he tightened his hold on me, but still didn't wake up. It was true what Sam said about the bruises being gone. Only a slight discoloration in the corners of his eyes still remained, but other than that he looked fine.

I wasn't sure how he was going to feel once he woke up with the severe beating he took the night before.

I lie there watching Paul sleep, as his warm breath caressed my face. He looked so comfortable lying there. I couldn't help thinking how lucky I was to have this beautiful creature love me the way he did. I knew he could be harsh at times and the way he let Charlie get away with what he had said about him was unbelievable, the hurtful things he said about him, it made me cringe even remembering the things he had said. If it had been anyone other than my father I knew for a fact he would have torn them apart, but he didn't, he let Charlie disgrace him in front of everyone, and I knew it was only because of me.

I also knew that Jake had changed. But I never would have believed he would have been so underhanded as to order Paul to stay down, so he could hurt him. My God! What the hell is wrong with him? I truly think he has lost his mind. That isn't the Jake knew from before. Yes, I knew he was hurting because I didn't choose him, but god… to be so ruthless. Jake seriously needed some kind of help. It probably wouldn't hurt for Leah to join him as well. She was a bad as Jake all the hurtful things they would do to people, it was almost as if they were possessed or something. I just don't understand it.

I looked into Paul's eyes as he opened them and stared at me, a small smile curved on his lips.

"You watching me sleep Miss Swan?" he whispered.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, ignoring his question, more worried about his health, than his cheeky come on towards me.

"Stop worrying babe, I'm fine. I've been worse," he told me pulling me tighter against him. "Don't I look better?" he asked wiggling his eye brows with a chuckle.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you're feeling all that great either," I told him.

"I'm fine baby truthfully," he said pulling me in for a morning kiss that would curl your toes.

"Paul… did Jake really make you just lay there and take a beating?" I asked still worried. He sighed rolling over on his back, taking one of his arms draping it over his eyes.

"Bella… it's over just let it lie. He can't hurt us anymore, so can't we just forget it and get on with our lives?" he asked, I stayed quiet just staring at him. After a few seconds he moved his arm looking over at me. He must have seen the sadness in my eyes, because he turn to me again wrapped his arms around me and pulled me back to him.

"Yes, he did, but not before I got a few swings in myself, he'll be sporting a few bruises himself," he told me reaching in for another kiss.

I moaned as his tongue slipped into my mouth, as he made the kiss more passionate. "I love you baby," he said against my lips.

"I love you too," I told him, as he kissed me once again, this time he moaned in pleasure.

"Make love to me Paul," I begged, I felt his lips smile against mine.

"With pleasure babe," he said, as he pulled me under him holding himself up while resting on his forearms. He slid his hand down and slipped them beneath my sweats that I had changed into last night before anyone had got here. Palming my mound as I moaned in delight, he slowly slipped one of his fingers into my wet hot fold as he maneuvered his finger in and out of me.

"You're so wet baby, is that all for me?" he whispered as he slipped another one of his digits into me.

"Paul…please?" I moaned as I arched my back in the filling of ecstasy he had brought me too in a short period of time. He rocked back on his heels as he started to pull off my sweats when a knock came at the door.

"Fuck! This better be important," he yelled as he climbed off of me. I sat up and chuckled at how annoyed he was.

"It's probably Sam, he said he would come by this morning to let us know what happened at the meeting, so behave," I told him, as I fixed myself and got up making my way into the kitchen to make us some coffee while Paul got the door.

After making the coffee I went back into the living room to see what Sam had to say. As I walked in I froze finding that it wasn't Sam at all, but Charlie, he seen me come into the living area, rising to his feet at the same time. I looked into his eyes seeing the worry that he held there and even though he was my father, I still felt like kicking his sorry ass out of the house. I turned from him to look at Paul to see what his reaction was, before I made my way over to sit down next to him. Paul wrapped his arm around me pulling me close. Charlie sat down and rubbed his face with his hands before he began.

I knew he got raked over the coals last night after I left by Sue and I was sure Billy gave him what for as well, for he was doing that as I left. I couldn't believe he would show up this morning after the rutcuss he had caused last night.

"Bells," he said, as I looked at him giving him a disgusting look. "Bella, please hear me out. I know I don't deserve it, but please let me have my say, if you don't want me here after that I'll understand," he pleaded.

"Go ahead Charlie," I told him, using his given name instead of using a parental courtesy. He cringed, with me use of his given name. Paul took my hand in his as Charlie began.

"What I did last night wasn't called for. I am totally ashamed of myself. What I did was no more than starting a riot, which I would have arrested anyone else for doing the same thing. If I had a problem with you being with Paul, I should have taken you to the side and explained why I didn't approve of the relationship, but I was so happy to see you, so glad you had finally come home, that I lost all train of thought. I thought you would come live with me like you did before you left, that we would be a family again. It would be even better since I'm with Sue now. You have a brother and sister," he said proudly.

"I didn't stop to think that you had other plans, which I should have. I'm so sorry for how I handled things last night Bells, please forgive me, I don't know if I could stand it if you don't forgive me," he said. I looked up at him still a little mad, sighing. I saw a single tear streak down his cheek as he wiped it away in a hurry, and I knew he was trying to hide it from me.

"Dad, you said awful things to me last night, on top of that, you humiliated Paul. I am not a child any longer dad. I deserve to be treated like the woman I am, and if you would have stopped for just one minute you would have also found out that Paul imprinted on me, which automatically gave him reason to stop his womanizing. Don't you think I already knew what he was like before? I mean, come on dad. I practically lived down here before I left for school. I may not have met Paul during that time, but I knew exactly what he was like from Jake and the guys. Speaking of Jake," I began before he cut me off.

"I know, I know… I was wrong about that as well. It's totally up to you who you chose to be with, but Bells you got to understand. In here," he said pointing to his head. "I know your of age and able to take care of yourself, but in here," he said pointing to his heart. "I see my ten year old little girl, who I want to protect and care for. I jump without looking when it comes to you Bells. Although I am finally figuring out that I have to stop and look before, I leap. I'm sorry baby girl. I promise I will do my very best to look before I leap," he said, giving me a sad pouting look.

I sighed, looking over at Paul, who reached over and kissed me on the forehead.

"Bella…he your father, you've got to forgive him," he whispered in my ear. Before I could say anything, Charlie spoke again.  
>"Paul, I owe you an apology as well, we both know the life you led before you started this relationship with my baby girl. I do know how imprinting works. I also know that you would die before you would let anything happen to her. I know you'll love her the way she deserves. Even though I did it in a terrible way, in my defense, I really thought you were just using her for your own pleasure. I realize now that I was wrong. I also ask you for forgiveness, what I said to you in front of all your friends, and the council was wrong. I apologize for being so ruthless, I hope you will forgive me," he said. I raised my eye brows at what he said, looking over to Paul once again. Paul nodded his head.<p>

"It's alright chief Swan, I understand that you didn't know," is all he said, causing me to raise my eye brows even higher at Paul as he forgave my father for what he did to him. Paul looked at me and shrugged his shoulders, as I began to laugh, I couldn't help it, and I fell back against the sofa laughing as hard as I could, tears streaming down my cheek in laughter.

"Bella…what are you laughing at?" Paul asked starting to chuckle himself.

"You…forgave…him…even…before…I…did…" I said trying to spit out the words to answer him, he was laughing now and so was Charlie, the laugh had become contagious as we all laughed with tears streaming down our faces. The only reason I could give for my sudden laughing attack had to be due to, with all Paul and I had been through the last couple of days it was more of a release than it was funny.

When we finally calmed down, I looked over at Charlie.

"Dad of course I forgive you, but the next time something like that happens, I won't be so forgiving," I told him.

"Thank you Bells, Paul," he said as he stood walking over to me giving me a hug. "Oh, and Paul…call me Charlie," dad said, bringing a smile to Paul's face.

"Now…who's hungry?" I asked as they chuckled and we all went into the kitchen so I could fix breakfast for the three of us.  
>Later after we ate, Charlie left. Paul and I cleaned up the dishes we had just finished when Paul looked over at me giving me that sexy smile I loved so much, he said walking over to me picking me up fling me over his shoulder carrying me upstairs to finish what we had started before Charlie had got here. Later after climbing out of the shower together, the phone rang. Only wearing a towel Paul ran down stairs to answer it. I stood there in my own towel watching him as he talked on the phone, god he was so sexy, I love looking at his body. I thought to myself, as I heard him tell the person we were on our way.<p>

"Who was that?" I asked.

"Sam…he wants us all over at his house, an emergency meeting, imprints as well," he told me.

"Did he say if he was alpha or not?" I asked wanted to know if everything was alright.

"He didn't say babe, but I'm sure he is, he is the one calling the meeting," he said. I nodded, as we went to get ready.

After dressing we headed out. We climbed into Paul's truck, driving to Sam's. On the way Paul reached across the seat and grabbed my hand bringing it up and kissing my knuckles. I smiled at how sweet he had become since we had been together. I had heard stories of how he was. Hell, I even seen how he acted when we first met, was it even possible for one man to change as much as he had? Well, it really didn't matter anymore, he was my ass now and I loved him. Charlie or Jake either one could never come between us. I for one would never allow it, and I was sure Paul felt the same way.

"I'm glad that you forgave you dad babe," he said, while still holding my hand.

"Yeah, me too, but if he ever pulls that again," I said, shaking my head.

"If he ever pulls that again and hurts you the way he did last night… I will rip him apart. I know he's your dad, and that's the only thing that saved his ass last night, I love you babe… I'll even give him my respect, but I won't allow him to do it again," he told me, I smiled understanding what he was saying, bringing my hand up once again kissing my knuckles then sitting my hand wrapped in his on his thigh.

We arrived at Sam and Emily's. Paul ran around the truck and helped me out of the truck. He held his hand out for me to take.

"My lady," he said with a smile.

"Thank you kind sir," I answered back with a giggle taking his hand as he helped me out.

We walked into the house, everyone greeted us happily. I noticed Paul getting closer to me. He wrapped his arm around me pulling me to him in a protective stance.

"What's wrong?" I asked, as I turned to look in the direction that Paul was looking. "Oh," is all I said, in the corner sat Jake, he was glaring at the two of us, as if his eyes were lasers and at any moment we would be nothing but dust. Leah sat between his legs leaning against his chest, giving us the same glare. I patted Paul on the chest, letting him know it would be okay. He sat down on the sofa and pulled me on his lap still holding on to me protectively.

"Hey Bella," came a voice to my side. I looked over to see Embry sitting next to Paul and myself.

"Oh…hi Embry, how have you been doing?" I asked.

"I'm good, I see you and Paul are getting on pretty good," he said.

"Yes, yes we are," I told him as Sam took the floor.

"Okay guys settle down," he began. "I just wanted to let you all know what happened last night at the meeting with the council. You all know what went down last night at the bonfire, so I won't bother you with the details. The council has decided that I will be alpha for the time being, which we all figured anyway. Once Jake gets over whatever the hell is bothering him," he said looking over at Jake then continued, "and proves he is capable of taking on the alpha roll once again then so be it. But for now I'm it.

"You know, I just don't get it," Jake said. Sam sighed turning to look at Jake.

"Jake…" Sam said trying to stop him from starting again.

"No, Sam, really, if Paul hadn't imprinted on Bella, all of this wouldn't have happened. She would have been with me eventually, as Leah, should be with you. This whole imprinting thing is stupid. You and Paul both could have fought it, but you chose to hurt the two people that were innocent in this whole mess." He said, as I heard a deep rumbling coming from Paul's chest. I rubbed his arm and he immediately calmed down leaning down, burying his face in my hair as he tried to ignore Jake's ranting by paying attention to me while Jake continued. "Not only that, but you took my rightful roll as alpha, tell me how all of this is fair? I mean really… can't you see that it's just something our ancestors dreamed up and wrote in a book.

They wanted control over everything, so they wrote it down, so they could decide who we spend our life time with," he said. I know he didn't see it, but I did…and so did Sam. Leah flinched at what Jake was saying. Sam chuckled, before he commented on what Jake was saying.

"All this coming from our future chief, god help us all," Sam said then continued.

"Jake, I'm not going to stand here and debate this with you. You know, as well as I do that our ancestors didn't crawl out of the grave to decide that Bella and Emily belong with Paul and me. This is part of being a wolf. We take what is giving to us.

It's a good thing Jake, whether you want to believe it or not. I don't understand why you can't see that Leah is you imprint, and how you are hurting her by saying these things," Sam said, looking down at Leah, as Jake followed his line of sight, before Sam continued. I could see the worry in Jake's eyes. Leah rolled her eyes hiding her true feelings. Jake just shook his head staying quiet, but I also noticed how he wrapped his arms around her and held her a little closer than before. Was he really that blind? "As far as me taking the alpha roll away from you… Jake, I didn't take it away… you lost it when you decided to be an ass, and misuse your power. It was taken away from you while you were in the woods last night. Yes, the council gave it to me and until you prove yourself worthy again, I will hold that title, until the power is returned to you. Now, if you don't mind I would like to get back to the reason of this meeting," Sam said, turning to continue the meeting as Jake rolled his eyes as Sam began telling us the reason for this meeting.

"Seeing I was beta under Jake, I have to choose another, so I have chose Paul. Paul you are beta until further notice," he said. Paul nodded his head in approval.

"Nooo!" Jake said jumping up and once again knocking Leah to the floor. "Not him… Not Paul, I will not allow him to be beta, anyone but him," Jake yelled. Sam swung around glaring at Jake.

"Sit down!" Sam yelled, in his low alpha voice causing Jake to immediately fall back into his chair. "I will not have you disrupting this meeting again. This is not up for debate, it is my decision and I choose Paul case closed," he yelled, as Jake sat steaming. He looked down to see Leah still on the floor giving him the same stare he was giving us. I had to control myself to not laugh. She was pissed. Jake reached down and pulled her back on his lap holding her close once again kissing her on the neck, telling her he was sorry.

"Alright," Sam said once again sighing. "Embry you and Jared have the night patrol, Quil you Paul will relieve them at dawn, Leah, you and Seth have afternoon patrol and Jake and I will relieve you. Does anyone have anything to add?" he asked as Jake opened his mouth. "Besides Jake," he said glaring at him. Everyone looked at one another then shook their heads.

Everyone was quiet through the meeting seeing that Jake was still on his ranting and raving kick, we let Sam handle him for the most part.

As we were getting ready to leave, Emily called to me before I got into Paul's truck.

"Bella," she called.

"Yeah, Emily," I replied turning to face her. She walked up to me smiling.

"We didn't get much of a chance to talk in there, I hear Charlie came by to talk to you this morning, is everything okay?" she asked hopefully.

"Oh, yeah, he did stop by this morning, he apologized and promised never to act that way again, but were good," I told her.

"Oh good, I knew he would come around, especially with the help of friends and family," she chuckled. I knew she was talking about Billy and Sue. As we were talking Jake and Leah came out of the house wrapped in one another's arms. I shook my head not believing what I was seeing.

"What's wrong Bella?" Emily asked worried.

"Oh, there's nothing wrong really. Are they really that blind? I mean, really… look at the two of them, if they aren't imprinted, I don't know anyone that is. Why can't they see it?" I asked Emily with a chuckle.

"I know… everyone can see it, but them evidently, but they will soon enough, I'm sure of it.

"You know what Emily, if it takes me the rest of my life, I'm going to prove to the two of them that they belong together," I told her.

"God Bella, I hope it doesn't take the rest of your life, but I agree and you know what I'll help you. We will figure something out. We'll prove it to them and then hopefully we can get back to our every day way of life," she said exhaustedly.

Sam walked up and wrapped his arms around Emily smiling.

"Bella, Paul, I just wanted to let you know that I ordered Jake to stay away from the both of you. He or Leah isn't allowed to even talk to you unless you speak to them first, just to give you a heads up," he said.

"Thanks Sam, we both said in unison. Well, I guess we better get home. I've got to feed my hungry wolf," I told them, as they laughed. I heard Jake growling in the back ground, but I chose to ignore him. Paul kissed the side of my head.

"Come on babe, I'm starving," he said as we said our good-byes to Sam and Emily. Paul helped me into his truck and climbed in himself as we made our way home.


	15. Chapter 15

**Destiny**

Special thanks to my beta Goldengirl2707 There's also a small lemon…enjoy.

**Chapter 14**

**The Showdown Part 1**

The next few days, Emily and I put our heads together to try and find away to prove to Jake and Leah that they belonged together. We came up with a few ideas, but nothing we could actually use without going to jail. I was sure if we had Leah kidnapped and held somewhere for a few days that Jake would figure it out, but given the fact that Leah would break out, we'd probably also find ourselves behind bars. So, the kidnapping idea got swept under the rug, but we did get a good laugh out of it.

"Come on, Bella, we can do this! We need to figure something out," she said, sounding exhausted.

"I know, Emily. There has to be some way to prove to them that they are imprints," I replied, feeling just as frustrated. I felt like we'd be sitting here for hours, trying to think of ideas to make them see just how blind they'd been.

"Well…I could make out with Jake in front of Leah… She would probably get mad enough to fight for him, but that would only hurt him and damage my relationship with Paul. I'm not ready to hurt Paul for anyone. I know that Jake has been horrible to me, but I still don't want to hurt him," I explained.

"Oh no, Bella. We can't do that! I wouldn't feel comfortable with Sam kissing Leah for the same reasons," she assured me, patting me gently on the arm.

"Well, there has to be something we can do Emily. This is not only hurting both of our relationship with our guys, but it's destroying the pack as well. If Jake continues to act this way, he could cause irreversible damage to the group. I can't help but blame myself for the way he is acting, but I also know it couldn't have been any other way. No matter what I tell myself though, how much I hurt him is still there in the back of my mind," I said softly.

"I know exactly how you feel Bella. I watched the same thing happened between Sam and Leah. I have to live with the fact that I'm responsible for my part in it. But if we can come up with some way to prove that they belong together, we'll all be better off," she replied.

"You said that you and Sam talked to Leah and Jake about how you thought they had imprinted?" I asked, trying to get a better fix on the situation.

"Yes, we did, it wasn't only us. Paul and Jared were there as well. When they heard the word 'imprint' they went berserk, saying we didn't know what we were talking about. Pretty much acting the same way he did the other night at the meeting," she said.

Now that got me thinking. "Okay, that was before Paul and I met correct?"

Emily nodded. "Yes…What's rolling around in that head of yours, Bella?"

"Well, with all of you confronting them, they probably felt trapped. Not only that, but it was before Paul met me, so he was probably more aggressive and acted like an ass," I explained. She thought about it for a minute and then nodded her head again.

"Yeah, come to think of it, he was causing more problems than we needed at the time," she laughed, rolling her eyes.

"I wonder…" I said slowly, trying to convince myself that my idea was a good one.

"What, Bella? I'm going nuts over here! What are you thinking about?" she demanded.

"Well…what if I talk to Jake alone? Just a quiet sit down between old friends?" I finally offered.

"No! Bella! What are you thinking? Paul would never allow that. And God forbid, what if he hurts you?" Emily looked a little frightened.

"Oh Emily, Jake might go on making everyone think he hates me, but I know better. He might hurt Paul," I replied with a nervous chuckle. "But he would never hurt me."

At least I hoped he wouldn't. He wouldn't do that, would he? I knew he was mad at me, but hurt me?

Nah. Jake had said a lot of nasty, hurtful things to me, but I had noticed something the other night; Jake had never said anything about getting even with me. He was rooting Charlie on. He had actually been hoping that Charlie would talk some sense into me. But then he'd found out that Paul had marked me, the real trouble had started. He knew at that moment he had truly lost me. He was hurting and the only one he'd had to lean on was Leah, who also had plenty of experience with abandonment and lost love.

"Bella, even if you get Paul to allow you to go see Jake, how are you ever going to get him alone? He's with Leah all of the time," she said.

"I'll call Billy and tell him our plan, see if he can make sure Jake's alone. Maybe he can get Sue to have Leah run an errand for her or something and then Billy can tell Jake he needs him to stay home. I can go over catch him while she's gone and talk to him," I responded, determined to make this plan work.

"I don't know, Bella. I really don't like this plan of yours. Anything could go wrong and if Jake goes off, he could hurt you accidently. Paul would kill him if he hurt you. I don't like this. I don't like this at all," she proclaimed, shaking her head vigorously.

"Just trust me, Emily. You'll see; it will all work out, I promise," I said with a sigh.

At least, I'd hoped it would.

That evening, Paul and I were sitting in front of the television watching a movie. I was trying to stay calm, but I felt on edge, knowing that I had to talk to Paul about talking to Jake. I knew if I didn't calm myself that Paul would feel my anxiety and ask if I was okay. I still didn't know exactly what I was going to say and I wasn't ready to have the conversation.

As if he could read my mind, Paul spoke up. "What's wrong, Bella? Are you okay?" he asked, looking up at me his brow furrowed with worry. "Did Jake do something?" he said, sitting suddenly up straight. "I'll kill him," he announced as he stood up and began to pace the floor.

"Paul… Sit down. I haven't even seen Jake since the meeting the other night. I just need to talk to you about something and I know you're not going to like it," I explained.

He relaxed but still looked confused about my uneasiness. He sat down next to me and took my hand in his, giving me a reassuring look. "What is it, babe? You know you can talk to me about anything right?"

"Yes, I know that Paul, but this is something you're definitely not going to like," I answered nervously.

"Tell me, baby," he pleaded.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm g…going t…to s…see Jake," I stuttered, cringing and waiting for hell to rain down on me…

I heard Paul's sharp intake of breath. I counted internally; _three, two, one..._

"What! Are you out of your fucking mind?" he screamed.

"Paul."

"No! No! I won't let you go. I can't let you be anywhere near that lunatic," he yelled. "Forget it!" He stormed out of the living room and then up to our room before slamming the door.

I sighed, and stayed sitting alone on the sofa, rubbing my forehead with my hand. I slowly blew out the breath I had been holding. I knew I could say anything and he would hear me. I had been expecting this kind of reaction. I had let him rant and rave because I was going whether he liked it or not and planned to tell him so.

After a few minutes, I gathered myself together and walked into the kitchen to begin cooking dinner. After setting out all the ingredients I would need, I said, "I'm going, Paul, whether you like it or not. Jake is tearing the pack apart. I won't let him continue to do this, not when I think I can do something to help him move on," There was no response.

I was half way done with dinner when I heard him open the door to our bedroom. He came down the stairs and stopped in the doorway to the kitchen. He just stood there, staring at me as I finished cooking. I didn't bother saying anything; he already knew how I felt. After placing the food on the table, I sat down and started to eat, ignoring him altogether.

After a few minutes, he walked across the room and sat down across from me, fixing a plate of food for himself. He didn't look at me or acknowledge my presence. This was the first time Paul had raised his voice to me since we became a couple. It was a rather awkward meal, to say the least.

After we had finished, as I stood up to clear off the table, Paul grabbed my hand and tugged gently until I sat down again. I stared back at him, steeling myself, determined to stand my ground.

"Bella…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you. It just took me by surprise; I'm worried about you. I love you and the thought of you getting hurt makes me crazy. Baby, you've seen what Jake is capable of. I mean, look at what he did to me and I'm a wolf! He could hurt you badly, and maybe even unintentionally kill you. Do you know what that would do to me if anything happened to you? I can't live without you, baby. I _won't_ live without you," he vowed.

I sighed. "Paul, he won't hurt me. I just want to sit down and have a friendly, quiet talk with him. If he starts ranting and raving again, I'll leave, but trust me Paul, he won't hurt me. Hell, if I know him as well as I think I do, he won't even want me to leave. Please don't worry about me. I swear he won't hurt me, I promise," I explained softly.

He sighed, running his hand through his hair. "What about Leah? She's always with him. How are you going to have a heart to heart with her stuck up his ass?"

I chuckled. "Emily said the same thing."

"Is this Emily's idea, Bella?" he asked, sounding irritated.

"No! It's all my idea. As a matter of fact, she doesn't like it any more than you do," I snapped.

"Doesn't that tell you anything, Bella? Jake's changed, babe. He's mean… hateful. I can't stand the thought of him talking to you like that," he replied.

"Then it's a good thing you won't be there then," I retorted.

"Like hell I'm not!" he snarled, breathing heavily.

I gently laid my hand on top of his on the table. He began to calm down immediately. "The only ones that will be there are me and Jake; no one else. I'm going to call Billy and have him set it up. I'm going to talk to him, Paul. He needs to understand what he is doing to the pack, this tribe, and most importantly himself," I clarified.

He sighed again, as if realizing that he couldn't do anything to stop me. "I don't like this Bella," he said sadly, as he stood up and took his plate to the sink before going back to the living room. I stayed in the kitchen to clean. I wanted to give Paul some room to think.

I knew he was upset with me. I figured he was really more worried, so after I finished with the dishes I went up and changed and crawled into bed. I laid for there a good hour, and just when I was about to doze off, I felt Paul climb in behind me and wrap his arms around me. He gently kissed his mark on my shoulder. The soft gesture made me moan and sent shivers down my spine.

I love you, baby," he whispered, pulling me close to him, cradling me tightly against his chest.

"As I love you," I replied, wrapping my arms around him. We lay like that until we both gave in to sleep.

The next morning, I awoke to the best feeling in the world; Paul's fingers. I moaned as I opened my eyes to find Paul's hand rubbing against my mound, one of his fingers sunk deep within me. I moved my hips with every stroke.

"Oh God, Paul," I whimpered.

"Good morning, Angel. Feel good?" he asked, nibbling on his mark on my neck. He added another finger as he picked up speed.

"Oh God, Paul, I'm so close," I groaned.

"Cum for me baby, show me how much you like it," he murmured. I reached out for him, desperate for release. Sensing my need, he bit down on his mark, sending me right over the edge.

"That's my girl," he said as he lifted up my leg and slid his now rock hard length deep into me from behind. He growled in pleasure as he slowly started stroking in and out of me.

"Damn, baby, you're so wet and tight," he moaned as his hips began thrusting faster. Both of our hearts were pounding and our breathing erratic as we enjoyed the pleasure we could give one another

"There, Paul, right there!" I pleaded as he hit that bundle of nerves inside me. The only sounds in the room were the echoes of our cries and the slapping of our skin. I couldn't stop my screams as I exploded in an orgasm, and I felt Paul groan as he found his own release. We lay together quietly, panting and exchanging fierce kisses. Paul's hands wrapped in my hair and pulled me hard against his lips before finally coming up for air.

After getting up, showering, dressing and eating breakfast, Paul left to patrol. He had to do some work for Sam after his run, and he promised he would see me tonight, but not before he reminding me to be careful.

I picked up the phone and dialed Billy's. I was glad that he answered the phone instead of Jake.

"_Hello?"_

"Hi Billy, it's Bella."

"_Hey honey. What can I help you with?"_

"Umm…well, I need a favor."

"_What kind of favor?"_

"I want to come over, sit down with Jake and have a quiet conversation with him. I think I can get him to settle down if I can just get him alone long enough to just talk."

"_I don't know, Bella. Are you sure you want to do that? I mean, he's my son and I want nothing more than to see him get over this depression and to stop acting like a two year old, but I don't know if it would be safe for you to be around him right now."_

"Billy, I appreciate you looking out for me, I really do, but I know Jake won't hurt me. Jake is hurting the pack with his actions. Honestly, I feel like I'm the only one that can talk some sense into him. I need to talk to him alone. I don't know if you've noticed, but everyone thinks that Leah and he have imprinted on one another. I want to somehow make him see that. I think if I can get that through his thick skull that he will come around and be his old self again," I explained.

It was quiet on the other end of the line for a few seconds.

"Billy, are you still there?" I asked.

"_Yeah, I'm still here, Bella. Listen, I'll help you, but with a few stipulations," he warned._

"Which is?"

"_I want you to call Sam and make sure at least two wolves are outside, just in case, you understand?" he replied._

"Okay Billy, I'll call him now."

"_Okay, now… Jake is here alone. He's out in the garage working on his car. As far as he and Leah are concerned? Yes, I have noticed, but trying to explain that to Jake is another story. I wish you lots of luck. I hope you can get through to him. Leah is in Port Angeles doing some errands for Sue. I'll call Sue here in a few minutes to make sure she stays away long enough for you two to talk. I'll call you right back. Is that okay?"_

"That's perfect Billy, thank you," I responded.

"_Bella, honey, if this works I'll be the one thanking you," he said, and then he hung up._

I picked up the phone again and called Sam's cell. _"Hello, Bella,"_ he greeted me.

"How did you know I was going to call?"

"_Because, I had to calm down a worrisome wolf this morning, after he told me about your foolish plan. I also know that nothing I say will stop you and I also know Billy. He would never let you anywhere near Jake without a wolf around, so I'm sending Jared and Quil as back up, but don't worry. I told them not to interfere unless Jake goes crazy again. When are you planning on talking to him?"_ he asked.

"Here in about a half hour," I replied with a chuckle. I was glad that Sam was about to be so level-headed about the situation. He was a good leader.

"_Okay, don't worry they will be somewhere close keeping an ear out,"_ he said.

"Thanks Sam," I told him.

"_Just be careful Bella, please. You know Paul will go ballistic if you get yourself hurt,"_ he advised me.

"I know, and I'll be careful. I promise."

"_Okay, I'll talk to you later. Good luck,"_ he said as he hung up.

I sighed. God, they all act like I'm going to a funeral or something! It's just Jake; Geez!

I had just finished cleaning the kitchen and picking up around the house when the phone rang again. It was Billy.

"Hello, Billy, is everything okay?" I asked.

"_Yes. You're all set. As I said, he's in the garage. Sue said that Leah won't be back until this afternoon, so you should have plenty of time to talk to him. Is Sam sending the guys?"_

"Yeah, he's sending Jared and Quil. They'll be close," I replied as the early signs of butterflies began in my stomach. Just because I was confident Jake wouldn't hurt me didn't mean I was looking forward to this painful conversation.

"_Good. Okay then, come on over. Good luck, sweetheart. I hope it works,"_ he said, his tone guarded.

"Me too, Billy. Thank you," I said softly before hanging up.

As I prepared to head to the Black's, I considered a variety of ideas that might work. I didn't want to push him, but I did want him to listen to me. I knew this wasn't going to be easy and the thought of having to go through this again did bother me. I remembered the hateful things he said to me when I decided to leave for school left me shuddering, and I knew it would be worse this time, mostly because I was with Paul now. My stomach tied itself in knots while I tried to control myself and stay calm.

Jake and Billy only lived a few blocks from Paul's. It was too far to walk, but only took a few minutes to drive. When I pulled up in front of the little red house, I couldn't help but recall all the time I had spent in this place, as a child and as a teenager.

After shifting the car into park, I climbed out and took a deep breath, looking up at the house. I saw Billy peering out of the window, and he pointing towards the make shift garage Jake had build when he was younger. I smiled at Billy before I made my way to the building, peeking around the corner. I could see Jake bent over the hood his car. I smiled as I watched his hips swing to the beat of the music blaring on the radio. Taking another deep breath, I walked inside and waited for him to notice me.

I saw him sniff the air before turning to look at me. He set his jaw angrily before walking over and yanking forcefully on the power button to the radio.

"What the hell are you doing here!" he snarled.

I could see the fury blazing in his eyes and it made my heart sink. Maybe this was going to be harder than I thought.


	16. Chapter 16

**Destiny**

A/N: This chapter hasn't beta'ed, so please forgive any mistakes you may find. My Beta has been very busy with school and graduation and I would never ask her to give up that for me, it's to important, so with that said, I also don't want to leave you, my readers out in the cold without a chapter that you are used to having once a week. So please forgive the mistakes.

**Chapter 15**

**The Showdown Part 2**

* * *

><p>I could see Jake bent over the hood his car. I smiled as I watched his hips swing to the beat of the music blaring on the radio. Taking another deep breath, I walked inside and waited for him to notice me.<p>

I saw him sniff the air before turning to look at me. He set his jaw angrily before walking over and yanking forcefully on the power button to the radio.

"What the hell are you doing here!" he snarled.

I could see the fury blazing in his eyes and it made my heart sink. Maybe this was going to be harder than I thought.

"Well, that's a warm welcome Jake. Can't a friend visit another friend without getting yelled at? I asked.  
>"Depending on what the friend wants and if I remember correctly, we haven't been friends for some time," he chided.<p>

"That was your doing Jake, not mine," I told him.

"Yeah, well…" he said as he walked over to the bench where he kept his tools moving them around for a few minutes, actually not doing anything, giving his self time to come up with something to say, before actually saying anything else. He sighed. Turned around and looked at me, then positioned his eyes on his hands as he wiped them off with a clean shop towel. "I guess I owe you an apology for my actions. I was acting like a child back then. I'm sorry Bells," he said meaningfully. I chuckled.

"Much like the way you've been acting lately," I said then regretted saying it knowing it would cause him to react to it in much the same way.

He jerked his up to look at me, giving me a look of death.

"What do you want Bella? Look, I've got things to do, so spit it out and let me get back to it!" he said evilly. I sighed, and shook my head… Stupid, stupid, I thought to myself.

"I'm sorry Jake, you didn't deserve that. You were apologizing and I shouldn't have said that," I told him sincerely. He rocked from one foot to the other and then nodded his head.

"Its okay, Bells, but I know you and you've come here for a reason, so spit it out. What do you want?" he asked once again, but not so harshly.

"Can we sit down?" I asked pointing to the old truck bench seat that he used as a sofa in the garage. He looked over at it and sighed again. He walked over and plopped down on it and smacked the seat next to him with his hand, as an invitation for me to join him. I walked over and sat down next to him, turning a little so I could see his as I spoke.

"Okay, what's up?" he asked. I held my hands together, resting them on my lap so Jake couldn't see how much they were shaking. I didn't have a clue how I was going to start this conversation and I had already pissed him off.

This sure wasn't going as smoothly as I had wished. It was stupid actually to think I could hide my feelings from Jake, even if I could hide my shaking hands, he was sure to hear my heart beat pick up with how nervous I was. So I figured I could get him more comfortable with me by asking him to be friends once again. Friends that you could tell anything to like we were before all this madness started a few years ago.

"Jake, I miss our friendship, the way it was when we were younger. We could tell each other anything. We were so comfortable together and I truly miss that," I told him and it wasn't a lie, I did miss his friendship the way it was earlier in our life.

"Friendship! You came over here to talk me about being friends again, Bells?

"Well… yeah. I miss having you as a friend. I've thought of you so many times over the years Jake. I always wished we didn't end things the way we did," I told him.

"You mean the way I ended our friendship, don't you?" he asked with a smirk on his face, still being the smart ass that he had been lately. I sighed and shook my head.

"Never mind Jake, this was a mistake," I told him as I stood up to leave. He caught my arm and pushed me back into the seat.

"I'm sorry Bell's. I've apologized for the way I acted just before you left already and I 'am' sorry for that. I didn't mean to be an ass. Don't leave," he said. I sat there looking down at my hands as they lay in my lap. He sighed once again. "Look Bells, you've got to admit that this sounds a little hokey. I mean, you come over here after all that has happen and out of the blue you want to be friends again? It just seems like there something else to all of this," he said suspiciously.

I looked up at Jake with sadness in my eyes. I decided to be honest with him and just get it out there.

"Jake, there are a few things I wanted to talk to you about, but I truly do want us to be friends again. I want us to be able to talk to each other the way we used to. I'm not trying to pull anything over on you at all, especially when it comes to our friendship," I told him. He sat and thought about what I had to say and then looked over at me.

"You said you had a few things to talk to me about. What things?" he asked once again being suspicious.

"Well, for starters, I wanted to talk about the pack. Of how it worries me to see the way things are going. It's not good the way you guys are pulling away from one another," I told him. He looked over at me and let out a breath slowly.

"I don't talk to imprints about Pack business!" he claimed rudely.

"Jake, if it's harming the pack, it harms the imprints! How can you sit there and tell me you don't talk to the imprints about the pack? I thought the imprints were part of the pack?" I asked him sternly. He glared at me grinding his teeth together.

"What exactly is harming the pack Bella!" he asked between his grinding teeth.

"Jake, I didn't come here to argue with you…please, can't we talk like friends? Don't get mad at me for worrying over something that you should have been worrying over to begin with!" I told him. He jumped up from the sofa and began to pace around the garage like a wild animal and then he stopped and looked down at me.

"Don't you think I worry over what's been going on with the pack Bella? Because I do, I think about it all the time. I also see what's happening to me as well. I don't like what I've become, but it's like I can't stop myself. There's something inside me that snap's and all the frustration inside me comes spilling out," he said as he walked up to me and stooped down in front of me. He took my hands in his staring me in the eyes.

"I love you Bella… I've always loved you. Yes, I was hurt and upset when you broke it off with me when we were kids and yes, I said things I shouldn't have said, but that still didn't stop the pain I felt when you turned me away. When I found out you left, it killed me Bells. Not only because you left, but because I knew it was my fault that you did leave. There hasn't been a day gone by that I haven't thought of you Bells," he said almost whining. He dropped my hands and stood up looking down at me before he finished.

"I was so happy when I found out you were back and not a second later Sam tells me who brought you back and why you came back," he said and I could see the sadness and anger returning in his face. "Paul! FUCKING PAUL!" he yelled.

"Jake," is all I got out before he stopped me.

"No Bella, let me finish," he said. "Do you know how I felt when Sam told me that Paul brought you home and that he had imprinted on you? No! You don't, you may guess what it did to me, but there's no way in hell that you could possibly know how I felt at that moment, so I'll tell you…" he said letting out a long sigh. I could tell he was trying to control himself so he didn't do or say something foolish. "At first I felt numb, lost… and then I felt anger, more anger than I have ever felt in my entire life Bella, so much anger… It actually scared me. I was afraid that I might kill him Bells," he said with a broken voice.

"But then, I realized that it wasn't his fault. I know what imprinting does to a person. I've seen it in Sam's and Jared's mind. I've felt what they felt. I think I was angrier at the thought that it wasn't me. I wanted to imprint on you and I didn't. That day you left for college, I knew you were frightened that if we had a relationship and I imprinted that I would hurt you, just like 'he' did to you," he said. I knew he was thinking of Edward and what he did.

"I knew it and I didn't care at the time. I went to your house to apologize, but you were already gone. I've had to live the entire time you were gone knowing I hurt you. Not being able to apologize to you. What kind of friend does that to another friend, hu Bells? I don't deserve your friendship. I didn't even let you explain how you were feeling.

I push our relationship on you, without considering how you felt. I just wanted you so damn much that I didn't stop to think of anything else, I didn't think of you Bella and for that I am so terribly sorry," he said with tears in his eyes as mine followed.

"And then, what do I do when you do show up? I act the same way, I go off, wanting to hurt you, to hurt my own pack brother in the most despicable way. I deserved to be stripped of my alpha command for the way I acted, for I acted abdominally. I see all this going on, in the way I'm acting and I want it to stop, but it almost like I can't, like there's this force greater than I am that's forcing me to carry on the way I am. The anger, Bells, it's raging inside of me. I hate what it's doing to me, to the pack, but I can't stop it!" he said sorrowfully.

"Jake, I'm sorry I didn't give you a chance to apologize, but I was hurt too the day I left you. The only thing on my mind at the time was that I had to get out of here and what better way to do that, than to go off to school. Yes, one of the reasons for not wanting to be together was my fear of getting hurt if you imprinted, but it was also because I love you as a friend, not as a lover. I never lied to you about that Jake. I was always up front with you about that. I didn't want to hurt you. I've never wanted to hurt you. When Paul told me about how he imprinted on me of course I knew about all of that stuff, through you. I also knew what it would do to you when you found out. But the heart wants was the heart wants. I was also sent here to be a teacher, I took it as a sign that everything would be alright," I told him.

"Yeah, I heard you were going to be a teacher here on the reservation. That's awesome Bells," he said.

"Thanks Jake, but I left it up to the school to find me a position and out of anywhere in the United States they could have sent me they find me a position in LaPush. What are the odds in that Jake, how else could I take it, but as a sign?

"I guess your right Bells and I know you didn't mean to hurt me any more than I meant to hurt you, it was just the circumstances around it. I hate imprinting to me it takes your choices away, why can't we pick who we want to be with? Instead, we get some all mighty force telling us who we should be with. I hate it Bells, I just hate it!" he said clearly upset.

"I know you hate it Jake, you did before I left, I was hoping you would have gotten over it by the time we arrived," I told him. "Have you ever tried to think of it as a blessing?" I asked him. He looked at me like I was nuts.

"A blessing! Are you completely out of your mind?" he asked.

"No Jake, listen. We date different people throughout our lives, many just to go out and have fun with, but have you thought that when you meet that special someone, that you just know down deep inside that she's it for you?" I asked. He chuckled at what I said.

"Yeah, Bells, I felt that way with you, you see how that turned out," he said sarcastically.

"No, Jake, I mean that both of you just know you belong together?" I asked. He furrowed his eyes and had a far off look in his eyes, then looked towards the door. "With us, you cared about me that way, but I felt more as a sister to you, a best friend. When you find the right person, it's like you can't stay away from them, like you'll die if you can be near them," I told him. He sighed lowering his head and closing his eyes.

"Do you feel that way with Paul?" he asked. I smiled at him.

"Yeah, Jake, I do. I love him more than I can tell you and it's not just one sided Jake, he feels the same way I do," I told him. He opened his eyes and looked up at the ceiling and let out a large breath. I could see the hurt on his face. "I'm sorry Jake, I don't mean to hurt you any more than you all ready are hurting, but I have to tell you the truth. It's how I feel," it told him.

"I know Bella, its okay," he said as he got up and walked over to the bench again. "You know dad and Charlie used to sit me down and talk to me about the way I was acting. I was being a real jerk after you first left. They would say that I couldn't make you love me, that it just wasn't meant to be," he said with a short laugh. "I guess they were right and I'm still acting the same way," he chuckled once again. "I need to get my head together, get rid of some of this anger I'm carrying around. At first, I thought it was just because I couldn't have you, but now I'm kind of wondering what else it could be? Sometimes I feel like I could tear down these walls with my bare hands and not think twice about it," he continued.

I knew what could be causing it, Leah and he were fighting the imprint. It was causing them so much frustration that it was coming out in short outburst of anger, until they admitted what they felt for one another it wouldn't get any better, it would only get worse. I knew I had to confront him on it, I just hoped he wouldn't change his mind about us being friend once again, because I brought it up, if indeed we were friends at this point, but it has to be said. So here goes nothing.

"Jake… I think I might know what's causing your anger, if it's not me which you just said it isn't, it could be something else, if you'll hear me out without going off on me," I told him. He turned to look at me frowning.

"What exactly are you talking about Bella?" he asked suspiciously, as he gave me a sharp glare. My heart beat picked up. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. He walked over and stood in front of me glaring down at me.

The way he stood there hulking over me, I was a little afraid. I was sure he wouldn't hurt me, but the way he had been acting lately I wasn't too sure I was safe either. I had to get him to listen to me about this, the pack depends on it. I also knew that Quil and Jared were out there close and probably listening to everything we were saying. I just hope that they stay away until I get it all out before they come in. Really, I hoped that Jake would listen and take what I had to say in and think about it before bodily throwing me out the door.

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><p>AN: Sorry about leaving it like this but I have to have a little something to keep you interested…Please don't hate me…

Will Jake go off and hurt Bella without meaning to? Will Quil and Jared have to come to her defense? We'll find out with the next update…see you then… Thanks to all of you that have reviewed, it means the world to me...

Thanks for reading...

Review Please… let me know what you think so far…huggs


	17. Chapter 17

**Destiny**

**A/N: Lemon alert!**

A/N: This chapter hasn't been beta'ed, so please forgive any mistakes you may find. My Beta has been very busy with school and graduation and I just found out she has been in the hospital. Get well soon hon… I also don't want to leave you, my readers out in the cold without a chapter that you are used to having once a week. So please forgive the mistakes.

**Chapter 16**

**The Showdown Part 3**

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><p>"What exactly are you talking about Bella?" he asked suspiciously, as he gave me a sharp glare. My heart beat picked up. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. He walked over and stood in front of me glaring down at me. The way he stood there hulking over me, I was a little afraid. I was sure he wouldn't hurt me, but the way he had been acting lately I wasn't sure I was safe either. I had to get him to listen to me about this the pack depends on it. I also knew that Quil and Jared were out there close and probably listening to everything we were saying. I just hope that they stay away until I get it all out before they come in. Really I hoped that Jake would listen and take what I had to say in and think about it before bodily throwing me out the door.<p>

"Okay… Jake have you ever considered that maybe… just maybe you've imprinted already?" I asked. I could hear the growl start deep within Jake's chest and it was getting louder as I spoke.

"Get out Bella!" he said almost at a yell.

"Now wait a minute Jake, hear me out before you go all crazy on me," I told him holding my hand out in surrender, trying to get him to calm down.

"Get out!" he yelled a little more loudly.

"Jakeeee…please, I'm begging you to just listen to me, let me explain," I pleaded.

"Bella, if you don't get out of here right now, I won't be responsible for my actions," he said trying to calm himself down. He was shaking and his hands were balled into a fist, his eyes were almost completely black as he stared down at me. I got up and walked towards the door and turned to face him.

"Don't come in here," I yelled as I turned to face Jake," Jake looked over my shoulders knowing I was talking to someone from the pack I was sure of it, but I didn't' care, he was going to listen to me.

"Alright Jake, you want to tear me to pieces go right ahead, because I'm going to say my peace whether you like it or not. We've known each other our entire lives and if you can stand there and threatened to hurt me, than that right there, should prove to you that we don't belong together and never have," I told him clearly. I was pissed and I had made up my mind I wasn't going anywhere.

"Spit it out Bella, and then get the hell off of my property," he snarled.

"Well…I see where I stand, and after those sweet words on how sorry you were. Friend's hu? If that's how you treat a friend I would hate to be your enemy," I told him angrily. He growled loudly turned and threw a wrench he was holding across the room.

"Damn it Bella!" he yelled. "You always did know how to get to me," he said turning and looking at me once again.

"Who's out there? Didn't you trust to be alone with me Bells? Did you think I was going to hurt you?" he said angrily as well.

"Not me Jake, I wanted to come alone, but Paul and your dad wouldn't let me come alone," I told him.

"Dad? I understand why Paul wouldn't let you, but dad? He should have known I would never hurt you," he said running his fingers through his hair.

"Jake, you haven't exactly been running on all cylinders lately you know. Your dad has seen this. They were just worried about me that's all," I told him. He looked at me and sighed.

"You're probably right. Look Bella I know what you're going to say, Sam and Emily has already talked to me about this and their wrong," he told me sitting down on the seat once again putting his head in his hands. I went over and sat down next to him.

"I'm not so sure they are wrong Jake. I would have questioned it myself if I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes.

I've seen how you are with Leah and Leah with you. The both of you are fighting this thing because of the circumstances with Sam and me. If I know anything about imprinting, it's that if you fight it, it can cause problems, sickness, or anger in yours and Leah's case, and I think you don't have the other symptoms because you're always with her," I told him.

"That's just it Bella, you don't know anything about imprinting, all because you're an imprint doesn't make you and expert on imprinting," he told me a little short.

"You may be right Jake, but you yourself told me how Sam, Leah and Emily handled it when he imprint on Emily.

Sam being angry, Leah angry and still is. Didn't you tell me that Emily became bed ridden because she fought the imprint, not wanting to hurt her cousin Leah?" I asked him. He rolled his eyes and stared out into space.

"She listens to that part," Jake said talking about me remembering what he had told me. "Yes, that's all true, but," he stopped and then ran his fingers through his hair once again and sighed.

"Jake, I've seen how Leah looks at you, when we were all at the meeting after Sam took over as alpha, and when you were talking about how I should have been yours not Paul's. I seen Leah's face, it hurt her for you to say that and when you jumped up and knocked Leah off your lap, I seen your face after you realized what you had done.

You were so attentive to her needs Jake," I could see the wheels turning in his head as he thought back on that day.

"There's been other times as well Jake, I've seen it. Why would you think that it was impossible? Look at those of us that has imprinted or are imprints. I'm not going to stand here and beat you over the head about this Jake. I just want you to think about it, listen to what I'm telling you, just think about it. Sit down and talk to Leah about it.

You're smart Jake, you'll figure it out, and I really think this is what's causing yours and Leah's anger. Will you think about it?" I asked him. He listened to what I had to say. He sighed and nodded his head.

"I'll think about it Bells, you may be right, as much as I hope your wrong… you may be right. You've gave me something to think about," he said still staring out into nothing. I stood up and looked down at him as he moved his head to his hands as he rested his elbows on his knees. "We still friends Jake?" I asked hopefully. He snickered raising his head to look at me giving me a half smile.

"Sure, sure Bells… always," he said as he stood and leaned down and gave me one of his huge hugs that I missed so much.

"Thank you Jake, please think about this, please," I pleaded.

"I said I would didn't I?" he said irritated.

"Okay, I got to go, but I'll see you soon, right?" I asked. He snickered again.

"Sure, sure Bells, I'll see you soon," he said as he walked me to my car. He opened the door for me as I looked up at the window to his house. Billy waved as I waved back. Jake looked toward the house and saw his dad staring out the window.

"Stupid old man," he said, laughing, shaking his head.

"Be good Jake, he care about you," I told him.

"I know Bells, be careful going home looks like a storms brewing," he said as he looked up at the sky.

"I will. I'll see you soon," I told him as he closed my car door. I started the engine and drove home. I thought about all I had talked to Jake about during the day, there was a few times I thought he was going to lose it on me, but he didn't and I saw no need of telling Paul, but then again the guys were outside the garage.

I knew they would tell Paul everything that had went on. I knew Sam would make Paul stay in human form during our meeting, because of the pack mind and with the guys waiting outside hearing everything that was going on, it would directly be relayed to Paul.

I was sure Sam didn't want to fight with Paul to keep him away from Jake's house, encase Jake said something Paul wouldn't like, which happened a few times during our conversation. He probably sent him to the construction site to work today to keep him occupied. No, I will have to tell him everything and hope that he keeps his cool.

Ha…Paul keeping his cool, I hope I can stop him from doing anything stupid.

I was at Jake's for a couple of hours and it had completely drained me. After getting home I lay back on the sofa and closed my eyes. The next thing I know Paul's kissing me, waking me up.

"Hey baby," he said as I opened my eyes and smiled at him. I put my arms around his neck and held him close to me.

"Hey, what time is it?" I asked worried, I had slept most of the day away.

"It's just after 3 p.m. How did it go with Jake? I see your still in one piece," he said quietly.

"It went good, a little touchy here and there, but it went okay, I think I've got him thinking thing over," I told him. He looked at me with a worried look.

"What do you mean touchy? What did he do?" he asked starting to get angry.

"He didn't do anything, he got angry a time or too, but we knew he would. I handled it and besides two of the wolves were outside," I told him.  
>"Oh, yeah, that's right, they didn't have to intervene?" he asked calming down.<p>

"No, Paul, they didn't have to intervene," I told him. He looked at me and leaned in and kissed me again.

"Are you hungry?" I asked knowing the answer to my question. He smiled evilly as he nibbled on my neck paying special attention to his mark.

"More than for food he growled," being seductive. He kissed me passionately as his lips traveled to my jaw and down my neck. His hand made their way under my shirt and met with my breasts as he softly caressed them with a moan. Causing a moan of my own and my panties became completely soaked.

"You smell so good baby," he whispered while sniffing the air and devouring my lips once again. I arched my back driving my chest into Paul, as his hands found the hem of my shirt and pulled it over my head. He unsnapped my bra, as it hit the floor joining my shirt. His lip moved to my hardened pebbles, as he sucked and lightly twirled his tongue around each nipple giving equal attention to them both. His warm hands softly messaged them as he continued from one to the other with his lips, his teeth gently scrapping over the nipple bringing another moan of complete pleasure from me. "You're so beautiful Bella," he mused as he continued his manipulation down my body to the top of my jeans. He looked up into my eyes giving me a small smirk, as he unfastened my jeans and pulled them down my legs and they too joined the collection of clothing on the floor next to the sofa.

He kissed his way up my legs to my inner thigh, stopping at my panty line and inhaled deeply, moaning once again.

"Damn baby, I could cum from just your sweet smell," he growled, as he slipped his finger underneath my panties and ripped them off. He spread my legs wider and held my fold open as he licked me completely from ass to nub, causing me to scream his name in pleasure.

"Paul, I cried out, as a shiver ran completely through my body. "Paul please," I begged. He slipped two of his fingers one at a time, between my fold and into my heat as his tongue circled my clit causing me to push forward into his face.

"What do you want baby?" he asked as he kept up his manipulation, bringing me closer to a climax. "Tell me honey, I want to know what you want me to do to you?" he said again, as he began to suck harder on my nub bringing me to verbally yell my request.

"I want you in me Paul, Fuck!" I screamed in pure pleasure. Paul chuckled, knowing how he affected me, as his manipulation became deeper and his pace quickened until I screamed with my release. He peeled off his jean shorts and chucked them with the other discarded clothing as he climbed up to me and kissed me hard. He tongue slipped into my mouth, as we kissed and I could taste myself on his tongue which made me moan wanting him more than I did before.

"You want me baby, you want this big, thick, bad boy inside you," he asked as he teasingly pushed his manhood along my fold rubbing his rod against my heated core. I pushed my hips against him trying to get his harden muscle to slip inside me, giving Paul, a reason to chuckle, yet again. I could see he was still deliberately teasing me, making me work for his attention' and when I wasn't expecting it he sheathed himself completely into me causing us both to moan in pleasure, as Paul buried his face into my hair and began nipping at my neck.

"Oh God Paul," I moaned as he moved inside of me slowly.

"Like that baby?" he growled. I nodded, unable to speak. He began to pick up his pace as he began to slam into me harder. The friction of him rubbing against my core was intense. I wrapped my legs around his waist, digging the heels into his backside, causing him to go even deeper inside me, bring a moan from the both of us once again. I moved my hips to keep up with his thrusts as our breathing became more of a pant with the sweat poured off of our bodies.

Our moans became simultaneous as we looked into one another's eyes as he brought us both over the edge. We both clamped our eyes closed with the systemic climax as Paul slowed his pace until we both worked our way down from our highs. He fell on top of me and buried his head into my hair as I wrapped my arms around his body to hold him to me as we reveled in our love. After a few minutes he pulled away from me and looked me in the eye once again.

"I love you so much," he whispered and all I could see was the love that he held for me.

"I love you too baby, so much," I replied as his lips joined with mine. He kissed me softly pouring all the love he had for me into the kiss as I returned that same love. We lay on the sofa for a few minutes just holding one another before I asked if he wanted to eat. He smiled looking down on me and nodded, as we both got up and dressed. I headed for the kitchen to fix dinner to get it out of the way before showering.

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><p>The next chapter will be in Jake's P.O.V.<p>

Will he think about all that Bella said to him? Or will he continue to be the ass he's been for the last few years? Well find out in the next chapter Thanks for reading…

Only two more chapters left of this story, I hope you've enjoyed it all. Thanks for all the reviews and putting up with some of my non beta'ed chapters.

Also thanks to Goldengirl2707 for all the work she's put in on this story, with your help this story was so much better than it was from the beginning…thank you so much hon, you totally rock…big hugs.


	18. Chapter 18

**Destiny**

A/N: This chapter hasn't beta'ed, so please forgive any mistakes you may find. My Beta has been very busy with school and graduation and just got out of the hospital. I also don't want to leave you, my readers out in the cold without a chapter that you are used to having once a week. So please forgive the mistakes.

**Chapter 17**

**Finally.**

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><p><strong>Jake's P.O.V.<strong>

After watching Bella drive away, I turned and looked at the house to see if dad was still watching and of course he wasn't. I knew he was frightened that I would yell at him for setting this all up. I knew it was Bella's idea, but I also knew that Dad had a small hand in it as well, especially the part where the two wolves would be watching. I chuckled at the thought. Like I would hurt Bella…please. I'd rather cut off my hands than touch a hair on her head.

I turned to walk back into the garage and noticed Jared and Quil skittering off in the direction of Sam's and once again I chuckled. I shook my head and entered the building that I called my garage. I walked over to the bench and put away the tools I had been working with. Afterwards, I stood, staring out at my make shift garage and sighed.

I pulled the shop rag out of my back pocket, wiping my hands for the hundredth timed today as I plopped down on the bench seat I used as a sofa in the shop. I leaned my head back staring up at the ceiling thinking of all Bella and I talked about earlier.

It was true what I told her about how I wanted to apologies for how I acted just before she left. I hated how I treated her back then… I knew I acted as bad as that leech, I may not have left her lying in the forest alone, but I might as well have… I left her standing in front of my house crying her eyes out. I heard everything she said while she stood there sobbing. I was just so upset and stubborn that I ignored her.

I remember how I felt after I got over my mad spell. My heart broke in half at the way I spoke to her. How she cried, telling me how sorry she was, how she tried to love me and she did. I knew that then, as I know it now. I promised if it didn't work out that it wouldn't do anything to our friendship and what did I do? I screamed at her telling her we couldn't be friends anymore, the one thing she worried about most of all, and I let her down. I was a selfish boy back then and I guess nothing has changed because I knew I was acting like a spoiled brat even to this day.

I was upset with her being with Paul. I want her for myself still knowing she didn't feel the same way I did and have always felt. I love Isabella Swan. I will love her for the rest of my life, whether she returns that love or not. But she has a point. Me and Leah are close, I wondered myself if we were imprints, but there was no way I was going to admit to that. Yes, still selfish and stubborn as ever, I know that. I could see how it affected Leah when I talked about Bella. Seeing her react to my words and feelings for Bella hurt her and in hurting Leah it tore at my heart. I tried ignoring the pain of hurting her, but that only made the pain worse, it felt as if someone was ripping my heart out with both hands, which pissed me off even worse. I didn't want Leah; I wanted Bella so I closed my mind off to it. I made myself believe the pain was caused by my want for Bella.

I remember the talk with Sam, Emily, Jared and Paul. Paul, the damn dick head, he can frustrate me faster than anyone could, but of course he was like that with everyone. There was no way I would admit anything to him and then he comes back from Oregon with my Bella claiming he imprinted on her. Of course I'm going to go off, are they nuts? They all know how I feel about Bella. The one thing I do regret when it comes to Paul is what I did to him out in the woods…I did deserve to lose my alpha command when I did that. I was in such a rage when I saw that mark on Bella's shoulder, but that's no excuse for doing what I did to him.

It was one thing for one of the pack to imprint on her, but did it have to be him? "Fuck!" I screamed out loud, burying my head in my hands, sighing. I knew he had imprinted on her, I've seen it in his head, through the pack mind, how he feels about her. I can also see how he doesn't think about other girls like he did before; it's only Bella for him now. I just hated the thought of it.

I've also noticed he isn't as aggressive now as he used to be, his become more patience. All the growling and trouble he's causing is due to me. He doesn't do that with the others anymore, oh sure he'll get upset if one of the other guys do something stupid, but that's only natural, especially when their doing something to embarrass Bella. Hell, I would be the same way and am when they do it to Leah.

Leah, I sighed once again. I do love her. Hell, sex with her is amazing. I've never felt so fulfilled while with her. The way she makes me feel sometimes when I'm with her, damn... I can feel the pull, the pain of her not being close. She's in Port Angeles doing some errands for her mother. God, I miss the hell out of her. I can even smell her scent and she's not even here. Apples and cinnamon almost like Bella's apple pie she used to make for me. Mmm Leah…

She should be getting back soon," I thought looking up at the clock on the wall. Yip, it's close to 4:00p.m. I can't wait to see her. There is no one like my Leah. Just thinking about her is making my dick hard. I need her so bad, I want to be sheathed deep into her core and kiss those pink plump lips.

Shit! Could it be possible? I was sitting here thinking about my Bella and with the thought of Leah, took me completely away from thinking of Bella. My thoughts were completely on Leah. "Fuck!" As much as I hate imprinting I have to admit it… I have imprinted on her. Fuck! The way I've been treating her, I thought to myself, as I remembered all I had said about Bella to her, cried on her shoulder about that girl I would never have and in doing so I've denied Leah all this time. Made her think she was nothing to me, but a good fuck. Shit! I'm still doing it. Not to Bella this time, but to Leah, My poor Leah.

I have to speak to her about this, but hell she hates imprinting as much as I do. How in the hell am I going to bring this up without upsetting her. Now, I know how Bella felt talking to me about all this. What an idiot I've been. I've destroying everyone's lives, including Leah's. I just hope she accepts the imprint and forgives me for being such an ass.

Bella was right. Sam and Emily was right…hell, even Paul was right. I'll never live this one down. Paul will haunt me for the rest of my live over this. Well, can't say I don't deserve it, maybe that's my punishment for being such an ass. I'll make it up to them somehow. I'll ask Leah what she thinks. Maybe she can come up with a way to help me make it up to the pack and Bella. That is if she's still speaking to me after I tell her we've imprinted.

I know… I'll fix her dinner. We'll have a nice quiet dinner and we'll talk and god willing, she'll accept me. I don't know if I can handle being denied again. I'll apologize for the way I've acted over the years and tell her I was wrong, that it has been her all along. God, I hope this works.

I ran in the house and took a quick shower. I dressed and brushed my teeth and hair. I ran to the kitchen and started making dinner, the only thing I can cook…spaghetti and meat sauce. I threw a salad together and sat the table. I opened a bottle of dads wine he had saved for a special occasion, knowing he was going to kill me. I made a mental note to buy him another bottle before he missed it.

Dad was having dinner with the Sue and Charlie tonight, which made it that much better, alone with Leah and with the thought of her again, caused a tightening in my pants. I adjusted myself and finished dinner. I called Leah, and she was just getting home. I told her to come right over that I had made us dinner which surprised her for I had never done that before, but she seemed excited about it.

A few minutes later she came walking through the door. She saw me and a huge smile came across her face. I walked over to her and pulled her into my arms and kissed her passionately.

"I missed you baby," I told her, kissing her again.

"I missed you to Jake. What's all this about?" she asked. "Not that I don't appreciate it, it's very thoughtful of you," she continued.

"I just thought I would fix us a good meal for a change," I told her as I walked her over to the table pulling out a chair for her and helping her get comfortable. I poured her some wine and dished out a plate of pasta and sauce and salad, putting it in front of her as I did the same for myself. I looked over at her and smiled.

She didn't seem to think anything was different, but of course it was always easy to be with Leah and vice versa. We talked a little about her day and then she asked about mine. When I told her Bella came to see me today, a shadow crossed her face. I could tell she was upset about her being here.

"What the hell did she want?" she asked.

"Just to talk, to see if we could still be friends," I told her. She looked at me as if she could chew nails.

"So, you two buddy, buddies again?" she asked as she lowered her head as if she didn't want me to see her reaction.

"I don't know, we only talked about it," I told her. She looked up at me with a sad look on her face.

"What about Paul, I thought they were imprints or some shit?" she said sadly.

"They still are, people can be friends without being lover's honey," I told her. she nodded her head and dropped her fork in her plate like she had lost her appetite.

"Leah, I think we should talk about some things," I told her. She smirked throwing her napkin into her plate.

"What Jake, you going to throw me over for little miss do good?" she asked sarcastically.

"No, I want to talk to you, about you and me, our relationship," I told her.

"What about it, Jake? We have fun together," there's nothing else to say about it, is there?" she asked.

"Oh, I think there's more to our relationship than a few good time's Leah and I think you know that as well as I do. I want to say a few things to you, but I need you to hear me out before you say anything. Will you do that for me honey?" I asked her. She looked at me and I swear I saw a hint of hope in her eyes. She didn't say anything, she only nodded her head, sat back and crossed her arms across her chest. I sighed trying to work up the courage to say what I must.

"Leah, honey, after Bella left here earlier, she made me see a few things that I and I'm sure you have denied," I said as Leah started to speak up.

"Jake," she said and I put up my hand to stop her.

"Let me finish honey, please," I told her and once again she nodded with a sigh. I still was praying that this would go well.

"Leah, you and I have been together for some time now, the sex is," I growled at the thought and she chuckled nodding in agreement. "Well, it's been amazing. I love being with you, you've took me places that I thought I would never go," I told her as she grinned happily.

"We are perfect for one another, we just fit together. We get along so easily, we feel about things the same. We like doing the same things. I can't imagine living my life without you in it. I know, that we've heard this before and we've denied it, but today I sat in the garage after Bella left and began to think about how well we get along and how I miss you when you're not with me. The pull is painful babe, when you're not around," I told her, as she started to get a worried look on her face. "Leah, I believe that we have imprinted on one another," I told her, as she jumped up and went to the window and started out. I followed her and wrapped my arms around her and pulled her against my chest. She let me without a fight.

"What Jake? Bella comes over and tells you this and now you believe it, when the rest of the pack has been trying to make you believe it for the last two years?" she asked angrily. I sighed knowing she was right.

"No, that's not why I believe it. Before, I felt as though we were being ganged up on. They treated us like we should have known better. I felt, as I'm sure you did, that they were trying to make us feel like we had imprinted just too get us over our feelings for Sam and Bella. Like they were just trying to get us out of their hair," I told her.

"Yeah, so what made it so different with Miss royal highness," she asked. I knew she was jealous of Bella. I never really put two and two together until now. She was afraid she would lose me to Bella again, that she would not only lose Sam to Emily, but me to Bella.

"Bella, didn't approach it in the same way, she didn't try to make me believe it. She put it as though, I just needed to think about it. To believe it or not, it was up to me, my choice" I told her.

"So, you thought about it and now you believe it after all this time?" she asked sadly. I kissed her behind her ear and down her neck. I felt her shiver with my touch.

"I thought about it all afternoon, baby. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that it hurt to be away from you. It also hurt to realize what I've put you thought all this time. I'm so sorry honey for the way I've treated you. I do believe that we are imprints Leah and I hope you'll accept me as your soul mate and be mine for the rest of our lives," I whispered into her ear. She stood there quietly for some time, not saying a word. The more she stood there the more I began to worry.

"Honey, what do you think?" I asked her hoping she wouldn't storm out of the house and tell me to fuck off. Then I heard her sniff. Is she crying? I asked myself and swung her around to face me. She had tears streaming down her face.

"Honey, what's wrong?" I asked. She slung her arms around my neck and continued to cry. I was really starting to worry now. "Leah didn't cry…" I don't think I've ever seen her cry.

"Leah, baby, please tell me something, I'm going to go crazy if you don't say something," I told her. She pulled away and stared into my eyes.

"Oh Jake, do you know how long I've waited for you to say those words to me," she said between sobs. I smiled at her and pulled her back into my arms and swung her around.

"You've known all this time? Why didn't you say something?" I asked.

"Jake, do you think you would have believed me? You hated imprinting as much as I did. I figured it out when you went up to the Makah reservation last year. I thought my chest would catch fire with the pain I felt from you being gone. You never would have believed me not with all you had inside, over Bella. You had to come to the conclusion on your own," she told me. I looked at her in shock. She had known all this time and hadn't said anything, what she must have been going through. What I have put her through.

"Oh honey, I'm so sorry for putting you through all of that. I promise I'll make it up to you. I love you baby…so much," I told her. She gave me a huge smile and threw herself into my arms again. I kissed her passionately.

"I'll make a bargain with you Jake, if you wanted to make it up to me," she said sensually. I smiled knowing Leah and what she was going to say.

"Anything baby, all you have to do is ask," I told her," smiling from ear to ear. She whispered into my ear.

"Make love to me, prove how much you love me and I'll consider letting it slide," she whispered. I raised one of my eye brows and gave her a sexy smirk. Without saying a word I picked her up and carried her bridal style to my bedroom and made love to her all night long. It was the most amazing sex we had ever had since we've been together. Just knowing that we belonged together made it feel that much more amazing.

The next morning I woke up with Leah leaning her head on one of her hands as her elbow rested on the pillow. She was watching me sleep.

"Good morning honey," I told her placing my hand behind her neck and pulling her to me for a morning kiss.

"Good morning babe," she said happily. "I love you Jake," she said which brought a smile to my lips.

"I love you too honey, kissing her again.

"I have a problem Jake," she said which caused me to frown.

"What is it honey?" I asked worried something was wrong.

"I have to tell Bella thank you, and it's killing me to have to do that," she said seriously. I chuckled at what she said.

"Okay, well I think we both have some apologizing to do and a few thanks to dish out," I told her.

"Yeah, well, it kind of leaves a bad taste in my mouth Jake, to have to do that. Can't we find away to apologize and thank them without really doing it?" she asked.

"Well honey, I think we should do it, I know it will be hard for you as it will for me, but it has to be done. I'll tell you what, let's have a bonfire. I'll stand up and do the honors and hold you next to me and you just stand there and look as beautiful as you are," I told her with another chuckle.

"That works for me," she said with a chuckle.

"Okay, how's this weekend sound?" I asked. She nodded her head in agreement.

"That's fine, thank you babe," she said, as I rolled her on her back and made love to her again.


	19. Chapter 19

**Destiny**

A/N: This chapter hasn't been beta'ed, so please forgive any mistakes you may find. My Beta has been very busy with school and graduation and just got out of the hospital. I also don't want to leave you, my readers out in the cold without a chapter that you are used to having once a week. So please forgive the mistakes.

**A/N: I want at this time to thank all of you that have read this story and all who have been so loyally supportive during its posting…It really meant a lot to me…thank you all…**

**I would also like to thank Goldengirl2707 for all the hard work she has put in on this story as beta to make it sound a whole lot better than I originally had it. It was really long winded and with your help weeding out the non accentual parts it sounded so much better…you're awesome hon…thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to do this for me…big hugs.**

**Chapter 18**

**The Epilogue**

**Life on the Reservation**

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><p>It had been a few days since my conversation with Jake. I hadn't heard a thing from him. I wondered how he was fairing, considering most of it towards the end was about Leah and him imprinting. I wondered if he had decided to give in to the imprint or go on and fight against it, which I was sure the reason for his constant out of control temper tantrums.<p>

I was also, unsure that even if he did accept it, that Leah may not. I wondered if all my words I spoke to him were in vain. What if Leah, talked to him, made him believe they weren't imprints at all? Made him think, I was lying to him as Paul, Sam and Emily had done, or the way he and Leah thought they had done a while back. If that was the case, we could expect no change and we would still have to put up with their constant complaining and with them causing trouble, upsetting the pack, which I prayed didn't happen.

I knew that Leah hated imprinting as much as Jake did. Would Jake have enough pull in their relationship to make her listen to him, if indeed he accepted that they were imprints? I didn't know for sure, but hoped he did. There were a lot of hopes in my thinking and I had to force myself not to call Jake or go see him to see how things were going and to find out what they had decided. Did I give him enough to make him think on the subject? Or, did I give him too much, turning him completely off on the subject. I was so worried, but at the same time I knew I had to wait this out. I had to wait until they contacted us. After thinking this out thoroughly I decided to wait this whole thing out no matter what.

Emily called me the next day after I had talked to Jake. I told her how it went or how I thought it went. I told her of my worry's and hope's which she came back with a; you did all you could do, speech which I wasn't so sure that I had. We made plans to hang out today, while the guys run patrol, and did some work in Forks on a house they were finishing up construction wise.

I had just finished cleaning up after breakfast, putting the last dish into the dishwasher, when Paul came up from behind me and wrapped his warm arms around my waist, kissing me on my neck, as I melted into his chest.

"Are you ready to head out babe?" he whispered into my ear as a shiver carried through my body with the Mir touch from him. I nodded taking in a deep breath as he chuckled. He swung me around and gave me a soft, gentle kiss. He looked into my eyes and then frowned, seeing the worry in my eyes.

"What's wrong?" is all he asked, clearly worried about what he saw there in my eyes.

"It's nothing baby, let's go," I told him pulling away from him picking up some things Emily wanted to borrow. We were going to do some baking today for the end of the summer festival that started in a few days to sell, making money for the pack and all their needs. Paul, Sam and a few of the guys built us a booth to set up all the baked goods we plan on making today. Paul grabbed my arm and pulled me too him once again.

"Bella, I know you and I can see something is bothering you, now spill," he demanded. Damn I hate it when he became all domineering, but I had to admit it was sexy, the way his eyes turned a darker shade of brown, and how right between his eyes wrinkle together and his nose flared. Let's just face it; Paul was sexy no matter what he did.

"It's nothing Paul. Come on were going to be late," I told him as I tried to pull away once again with no luck. He was too strong for me.

"No way Swan… Tell me what's wrong or we will stand right here until you tell me what's bothering you," he said. I sighed knowing how stubborn he was and he meant every word. Damn wolves, they were all just as stubborn as the next one. I swallowed hard and began.

"I haven't heard from Jake," I told him. He raised one of his eye brows and I knew he was wondering why I would even care if I heard from him or not.

"And…?" He replied waiting for me to finish.

"Well, I want to know if our talk had any effect on him or not," I told him. Paul shook his head and pulled me into his arms to comfort me.

"Honey, I know you're worried about the pack and what Jake is thinking about the imprint and all, but there's nothing else we can do with that, you've talked to him successfully, or so you said. When he's ready we'll hear from him. Until then stop with the worrying. Besides you'll get worry lines, do you want to look old before your time?" he asked as I smacked him on his arms. He laughed pulling me back to him.

"Paul," I chided and he continued laughing while holding me close. He pulled away slightly and looked me in the eyes lovingly.

"You, my dear Bella, are beautiful to me lines or no lines, so stop worrying. Come on were going to be late. We left and drove to Sam and Emily's. We walked into their house arm in arm as Emily and Sam smiled at us. Emily ran to me and pulled me away from Paul and gave me a huge hug.

"You'll never guess Bella what just happened," she said, as I looked at her confused.

"What? What happened?" I asked, knowing it had to be something good due to the huge smile on her face.

"Jake called Sam this morning," she said, as I turned to Paul who smiled at me, giving me a wink.

"What did he have to say?" I asked giddily, hoping it was good news about him and Leah.

"He wants us all to meet him for a special meeting on the beach this weekend. He's having a bonfire. He wants to talk to the pack and the elders," she said. The excitement began to build in my stomach, in hopes that it would be something good he wanted to share with us.

"Did he say what he wanted to talk to us about?" I asked, praying it was what I hoped it would be.

"No… He didn't say, but I have a good feeling about this Bella," she crooned.

"Now, ladies, let's not let ourselves get all worked up over this, it may come to nothing at all, he just said he had a few things he wishes to speak to us about. I think we shouldn't get our hopes to high. You both know how he's been for the last few years. Let's not let it get out of hand just yet," Sam said realistically.

"Sam's right babe, I don't want you to get all excited only to be let down later on," Paul said, as he put his arm around my waist and kissed my forehead.

"I know, but Paul, what if it is good news, what if he and Leah have finally decided to give in to the imprint," I said with a chuckle. Paul chuckled at my giddiness.

"Just keep your heads about you. Don't get your hopes built up babe," is all he said as he carried the things I brought with me into the kitchen then returned as he and Sam left together.

Emily and I spent the day baking, cakes, pies and cobblers. We talked about this and that, but mostly about Jake and Leah. Sam and Paul returned home that afternoon and we ate at Sam and Emily's and then headed home.

The weekend had finally arrived. I was on cloud nine. Even with Paul's persuasions, of not getting my hopes built up. I knew he was just worried that if Jake and Leah hadn't change at all, that I would be devastated, but I just had a feeling that everything would be alright. Paul and I walked to the beach and were joined by Emily and Sam as we finished our stroll to the beach.

When we got there the rest of the pack and imprints were there including the elders. I looked over at Billy, who was sitting next to old Quil. They looked just as confused as the rest of us did. Billy saw me and gave me a huge smile and waved. I smiled and waved back, as Paul and I found a spot in front of the fire. I leaned back against Paul's chest as he wrapped his arms around me. I knew he was worried that things were going to turn sour and I was the one who would be hurt by it, but I didn't care. I almost knew everything would be okay.

Then I saw him walk up, he had that same sour face that he always wore. I was beginning to think that maybe Paul was right. I sighed, looking up at Paul, who gave me a sorrowful smile and then kissed the top of my head. Leah joined him soon after. I saw the look in Jake's eyes as he looked at Leah. I could tell the love they shared between the two of them and I just couldn't understand why they didn't see it as well.

Paul must have felt what I was feeling, for the next thing I felt was him tightening his arms around me and then whispered in my ear.

"It will be okay babe," he said kissing the side of my head. I nodded my head to answer. I watched as Leah and Jake took a stance in front of the elders. The pack was to his back, but turned to face us as he began to speak.

"I want to thank you all for meeting me here tonight. I know that I'm not alpha any longer, which meant all of you didn't have to show up for this meeting. I'm glad that you decided to come, thank you. Before I begin, I want you all to know, that I'm not here to ask for the alpha position back, but if you will bear with me, I would like to cover a few things before I get to what we have to say," he began with a sigh. Leah grabbed his hand and Jake smiled at her, which gave me hope again.

"I've been over this in my head a thousand times, trying to find the words to make you all understand what's in my heart, but it just seems the easiest way is to just say what I felt or am feeling and get on with it. So that's what I'm going to do," he explained, as he looked down at Leah again as she smiled at him being there for him as a true imprint would do.

"I guess you all know what an ass I've been for the past few years," he said as the pack chuckled with his words and Paul let out a pfft. "Yeah, well, I guess you do," he said with a chuckle. "Well, I have no excuse for my actions. You all know how I feel about Bella. After I phased and seen her for the first time I knew I didn't imprint on her and that kind of set me off into a sort of whirl wind. I wanted her to be part of my life and when that didn't happen, I kind of lost it. I've been a total ass for the past few years, making everyone suffer for something no one had control over, not even myself."

"She was right to leave, or I would have made her life as miserable as mine was, as I made all of yours and for that I am sorry," he said. He was apologizing. Was it possible? Did he listen to what I said? Was everything going to work out the way I hoped it would? I looked at Paul who gave me a loving smile, as Jake began to speak again.

"It was all me, Bella never gave me an ounce of encouragement that we could be anything other than friends. I construed it all out of context. She told me from the beginning she loved me like a brother. Even dad and Charlie tried to make me understand that, but my own stubborn needs, wanted her. I couldn't have her, so, I put those around me through a living hell. Like I said, I'm sorry. I hope you all can forgive my stupid attitude over the past couple of years and I promise to make it all up to you all, somehow," he said.

"Bella, came to see me a few days ago, we talked… well, she talked I yelled," he chuckled. "But, after she was finished I began to think about what she had said. Looking over at me and smiled, he kept his eyes on me through the rest of the his speech, only looking away when he began to speak about Leah, then his eyes were on her and no one else.

"Hence the apology, but there was something else she hit on and although it had been told to me before, I was too blinded by my own fury to see the truth. I held it inside of me not willing to see what was right before my eyes. You tried to explain to me, and whether it was me being the stubborn ass I am that didn't want to listen, or the way you were trying to bring it to my attention, I don't know, maybe it was both, but Bella, did it in a different way, she didn't try to make me see the light, she gave me a choice to decide for myself. Something, I never gave her and for that again I am so sorry," he said almost in tears as he stared at me. I smiled as my own tears started to stream down my face.

"I hope you can forgive me Bells, I treated you horribly and I want to wish you and Paul the best of everything life has to offer. I love you, I will always love you and I hope you can find it in heart to still be my friend?" he asked. I pressed my lips together wiping away my tears and gave him a nod. I wanted nothing more, than to be his best friend. He smiled and then turned to look at Leah.

"Leah and I have put everyone through hell and even though we've done nothing, but give Bella and Sam hell, they have always been there for us, as our friends. Bella said, that she thought that Leah and I had imprinted on one another. Of course, I've done nothing, but fight it, saying that it wasn't possible. In doing this I have hurt Leah as well. I have since apologized to her and together we have decided that we are imprints and want to live out our lives together," he told everyone. In which I lost it, I began to sob in joy. Paul pulled me into his arms and held me tight as Jake looked over at him with a worried look.

"She's alright man, she's just happy for the two of you," Paul chuckled waving Jake on with his story. Jake chuckled and shook his head.

"Anyway, Leah and I have accepted the imprint, were happy with the decision and we hope you all will be as well. We called you all here tonight to apologize for our behavior and promise to make it up to all of you and to tell you that you have another pair of imprints," he chuckled. "Thanks again for coming," he said holding Leah close to his side. Everyone was quiet when he finished, even I got hold of myself and watched the pair of them standing there. I could see the old Jake again only older now. He was indeed the true alpha as he stood tall waiting for any punishment that the tribe would throw at him for the way he acted over the last couple of years.

"Jacob, I am very proud of you son. It took a lot to do what you've just done. I thank the Spirits that they have brought my son back to me, but most of all, they brought you out of your darkness, using Bella as a vessel to do their will. I'm sorry to say though that I can't as of yet give you the alpha position back. That will be determined by your actions in the near future," Billy said. Jake nodded his head in understanding.

"But thank you for standing before us and explaining everything. Let me be the first to congratulate you on your imprinting. Let you road be free of rocks and debris. Let your home be happy as the sun is in the sky. Let your future be as bright as the Northern star that shines bright in the midnight sky. Let the Spirits be with you my son, guiding your way," he said.

"Thanks dad," Jake and Leah said simultaneously.

It was over, all the darkness Jake had in him had disappeared leaving only love for Leah, his pack and his tribe. I couldn't be happier for the both of them. I had my best friend back and the tribe had their Jacob Black and Leah Clearwater back and I was sure in no time Jake would hold the alpha position again. I walked up to Billy and gave him a hug. He thanked me for bringing his son back to him and the tribe. Paul was happy. He didn't have to fight Jake any longer for wanting me. He had Leah now and he was content being my best friend once again.

The pack was a family again. There was no more jealousy or fighting among one another any longer. We got together a lot with family dinners and in the warmer months we had our bonfires. We all grew as a family. Paul and I married the next summer as did Jake and Leah. Jake took over the alpha position again which gave Sam the time to marry Emily, they started a family before any of the others did. Yes, the entire pack imprinted over the course of five years and married and started a family. So our little reservation was growing. I still teach at the school here in LaPush and I love it. Paul still patrols and works with Sam at his construction business, which is doing very well by the way.

Paul and I have two beautiful children a girl named after Jake's mom Sarah, and a son named after Paul with Jacob as his middle name…we call him P.J. He is a hellion just like his father was which I'm not looking forward to in the future.

So we all live happily ever after here on the reservation.

THE END.

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><p>Thanks for reading and thanks for all the reviews, they mean so much to me. And a big thank you to Goldengirl2707 for all she's done to help me with this story during her busy life, thank you so much hon…<p>

Please leave a little something to let me know what you thought of my little story…huggs


	20. Chapter 20

A/N This is not an update but I wanted to say that there is another purge going through and if any of my fics are pulled…, You can find them on TrickyRaven. If you need the exact website, PM me and I will tell you it. Sorry that I haven't updated lately, but hopefully soon. I'm writing a new story as we speak, and will be done soon...So look for a new Sam and Bella story from me soon...Also, LifelessLyndsey has been one of the first through this new purge, Through the Window has been yanked but you can find it on TrickyRaven as well.


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